Scrabble: Rules
Object To form words on a grid.
Procedure Scrabble uses a board of 225 squares (15 by 15), on which
players form interlocking words using 100 ‘tiles’ bearing letters of the alphabet.
Each letter has a score beside it. The board includes various ‘premium squares’
on which players can score extra points.
The number of letters in a Scrabble set and their scores are as follows:
|
Letter
|
Number of tiles
|
Values
|
Letter
|
Number of tiles
|
Value
|
|
A
|
9
|
1
|
O
|
8
|
1
|
|
B
|
2
|
3
|
P
|
2
|
3
|
|
C
|
2
|
3
|
Q
|
1
|
10
|
|
D
|
4
|
2
|
R
|
6
|
1
|
|
E
|
12
|
1
|
S
|
4
|
1
|
|
F
|
2
|
4
|
T
|
6
|
1
|
|
G
|
3
|
2
|
U
|
4
|
1
|
|
H
|
2
|
4
|
V
|
2
|
4
|
|
I
|
9
|
1
|
W
|
2
|
4
|
|
J
|
1
|
8
|
X
|
1
|
8
|
|
K
|
1
|
5
|
Y
|
2
|
4
|
|
L
|
4
|
1
|
Z
|
1
|
10
|
|
M
|
2
|
3
|
Blank
|
2
|
0
|
|
N
|
6
|
1
|
|
|
|
- All the letter tiles are turned face downwards or kept in a bag. To decide
who will start the game, each player picks out one tile and the person
drawing the letter nearest to ‘A’ plays first.
- Each player picks seven tiles and places them on a ready-made rack,
where only that player can see them.
- The first player puts the letters on the board to make a word, either ‘across’
or ‘down’ (as in a crossword), with one letter of the word on a central
square. The score is recorded, including any double or triple allowance
for tiles placed on premium squares. The first word always scores double,
as the centre square has a ‘double word score’.
- A bonus of 50 points is awarded to any player who uses all seven
tiles in one move.
- The first player picks out from the unused tiles the same number of tiles
as was used to make the word, so as to make up the number to seven again.
- The next player has to add another word, joining or interlocking
with the word on the board, and so on – round the players.
- All new words must use at least one of the letters that is already on the
board.
- Players score for any word made or changed by their moves – but premium
bonuses apply only the first time that letters are played.
- Instead of laying down a word, any player can exchange any number of
tiles from their rack for new tiles from the ‘bank’.
- The Scrabble set includes two blank tiles, which can represent any
letters its player chooses, after which it cannot be changed during the game.
- The game ends when all the tiles have been used and one player has
laid down all his or her tiles, or nobody can think of new words to place
on the board. The players have to deduct from their scores the value of their
unplayed letters – and this total is added to the score of a player who has
disposed of all his own tiles.
- The winner is the player with the highest score.
Variations
There are several variations of Scrabble. Double-Bag Scrabble divides
the tiles into two separate bags: one for vowels, the other for the consonants.
Scrabble for Juniors is a boxed game using a two-sided board: on one
side, children can play a normal game of Scrabble except that there only 13
by 13 squares and the scoring is simplified; on the other side, young children
have to place letter tiles on words already printed on the board. Solitaire
Scrabble is for one player only. Unscrabble (or Scrabble in Reverse)
involves removing letters from the board: players remove between one and six
tiles from the board at each move, but the letters they leave must spell proper
words interlocked with one another. This game ends when nobody can remove any
more tiles from the board, and the winner is the player whose stock of removed
tiles makes the highest score.
 Printer friendly version
 This article was taken from The Oxford A-Z of Word Games.
|
