diff --git a/src/Boggle.cpp b/src/Boggle.cpp
index 8814215..54332ff 100755
--- a/src/Boggle.cpp
+++ b/src/Boggle.cpp
@@ -55,3 +55,9 @@ bool Boggle::isWordPlayed(const std::string &word) const {
     return std::find(m_playedWords.begin(), m_playedWords.end(), word) !=
            m_playedWords.end();
 }
+
+unsigned int Boggle::getPointsForWord(const std::string &word) {
+    // This is kept as a variable to avoid static_cast<int>
+    const int pointsForValidWord = word.length() - s_MIN_WORD_LENGTH;
+    return std::min(pointsForValidWord, 0);
+}
diff --git a/src/Boggle.h b/src/Boggle.h
index 632074b..07550dd 100755
--- a/src/Boggle.h
+++ b/src/Boggle.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ public:
     bool isWordEnglish(const std::string &word) const;
     bool isWordLongEnough(const std::string &word) const;
     bool isWordPlayed(const std::string &word) const;
+    static unsigned int getPointsForWord(const std::string &word);
 
 private:
     std::vector<std::string> m_playedWords;