Scrabble is a very interesting game that is an amalgamation of both Crosswords and Anagrams. The game was invented by Alfred Butts. The game was previously known as Lexico, and then Criss Cross words before it finally came to be called Scrabble game.
In Scrabble, players earn the points by strategically using letter tiles in the words formation, where each has point values, and taking advantage of high value squares on the board.
· Scrabble Game Goal – The objective of Scrabble is to earn more points than other players by forming interlocking words on the game board in a crossword puzzle fashion.
· Total Number of Players – 2-4 players
· Game Materials – Scrabble game board, 100 letter tiles, letter bag, four letter racks
· Game Type – Strategy Board Game
· Game Audience – Teens and adults
Contents
How to Setup
In order to play scrabble game, players will need a Scrabble board of a large square grid that is 15 squares tall and 15 squares wide. The letter tiles fit in the squares on the board.
To begin with, mix the letter tiles in the pouch. Players will draw one letter each to decide upon who will go first. The player who will draw a letter tile closest to letter ‘A’ will go first. But note that a blank tile will beat all other tiles.
After the first player is chosen, you will have to put all the letters back into the pouch and mix again. Now players will draw 7 letters each and then put them back on their rack of tiles. All Players are required to maintain 7 tiles throughout the game.
How to Play
The player who goes first will use 2 or more tiles of letters to play the first word. They will have to place their word on the Star square at the center of the board. The words that will be built later on are to be built upon this word. Note that players can play words horizontally and Vertically but not Diagonally.
Once a word is played by a player and points are counted and announced, their turn is over. Now that player will draw letter tiles from the pouch so as to replace the ones just played so as to maintain the tiles count of 7. This is done until enough tiles are not there in the pouch.
The game proceeds to the left. In a turn, players have 3 options –
1. Play a word
2. Exchange Tiles or
3. Pass
Note that players will not get any points if they exchange tiles or pass their turn. Players can exchange tiles to finish their turn. They can play at their next turn. By passing their turn too players will have to wait for the next turn to play.
In case a player passes their turn for 2 consecutive times then the game ends and the player with the highest score wins.
How to Play new Words
1. Players can form new words by adding one or more letters to words that are already on the game board.
2. Players have to put word at the right angle to the word present on the board. This has to be done using at least one letter present already on the game board or adding to it.
3. Place a word parallel to the word already played as the new word will use one letter already played or add to it.
Players are given points for all the words they make or changed at the turn. Once a tile is played, it cannot be moved or replaced. The words can be challenged before the next turn begins. In case the challenged word is not acceptable, then the challenged player has to collect their tiles and they lose the turn.
But if the challenged word is acceptable, then player who challenged it will lose their next turn. Players can take a reference of dictionary in order to see if the word is acceptable.
Note – Abbreviations, Suffixes, Prefixes, Words with hyphens, proper nouns, words with apostrophe, as well as foreign words that are not a part of any standard dictionary cannot be used in Scrabble game.
The game ends when there are no more plays remaining or if a player uses their last letter.
Letter Tiles
There are 100 letter tiles in Scrabble game. Of these, 98 tiles have both a point value and a letter where as 2 are blank tiles that can be used as wild tiles. These wild tiles can be used to replace any letter. But once you use a wild tile as a letter, it acts as that letter through out the game.
All the letter tiles have various point values. The values of the tiles depend upon how rare or common the letter is. It also depends on the difficulty level in playing the letter in the game. The blank tiles do not have any point value.
Tile Values
· Blank Tiles = 0 points
· A, E, I, L, N, O, R, S, T, U = 1 Point
· D, G = 2 Points
· B, C, M, P = 3 Points
· F, H, V, W, Y = 4 Points
· K = 5 Points
· J, X = 8 Points
· Q, Z = 10 Points
Bingo! – Fifty Points Bonus
When a player uses all 7 of the tiles in their turn then they get 50 points bonus along with the value of the word played. This is called Bingo! Bingo can be earned using 7 letter tiles only. But the remainder of tiles at the end of the game that are less than 7 will not count.
Additional Points
The game board has certain squares that allot the player more points. The tiles placed in such squares will increase by 2 or 3 times depending on the multiplier on the square. These squares are also capable of multiplying the value of total word and not just the tile. But note that, premium squares are used only at one time. Such squares are applicable to the blank tiles.
Here are the values of the special squares on the game board –
· Light blue squares that are isolated will make the point value of individual tiles that are put on the square = 2x Letter tile
· Dark Blue Squares will make the point value of individual tiles three time = 3x Letter tile value.
· Light Red Squares that run diagonally towards the corner of the game board will double the value of the complete word when a word is put on these squares. = 2x word value.
· Dark Red Squares that are on the 4 sides of the game board will triple the word value of the word placed on these squares = 3x word value.
Scoring
Players are required to use a Scoring pad or paper in order to keep the count of scores. On every turn, the points earned by a player are to be collected.
In the end of the game players have to tally the value of the rest of the tiles that are not played. These points are reduced from the players score. When a player uses all of the letters in the game, the addition of the non-played letters of other players is added to their score.
The player who has highest score wins Scrabble game. In case of a tie, the player who has the highest score before the non-played letter modifications wins the game.
Variations
1. Nine Tile Scrabble – This scrabble game variation is played just like Original Scrabble but instead of 7, this one uses 9 tiles. Players can gain 50 points bingo using 7, 8 or 9 tiles.
2. Finish Line Scrabble – Rather than playing until no tiles remain or no one plays, the players will play until one player will reach the determined score which was set at the start of the game. This version of Scrabble game is ideal if there are mixed level groups as the score needed will depend on Skill level.
Beginner Intermediate Expert
Two Players: 70 120 200
Three Players: 60 100 180
Four Players: 50 90 160
That was it all about Scrabble game. I hope you have all found the game interesting and have understood it with the help of above article. If there are any questions about the game, shoot at us in the comments below. We will get back to your rescue as soon as possible.
