Tabletop games
Scrabble
MattelAlfred Mosher Butts1948
- players
- 2–4
- minutes
- 60
- years
- 10+
In the box
1 board of 225 squares · 102 letter tiles (French edition) · 4 racks · 1 bag
Official rules (PDF, federation's site)
Box details
- Designer
- Alfred Mosher Butts
- Artwork
- C. Leslie Crandall
- Publisher
- Mattel
- Mechanics
- Hand ManagementWordsSquare GridTile Placement
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
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The basics
Each player forms words on the board, making the most of the squares that multiply points. On your turn, play a word that covers the centre square (for the first) or builds on the words already played, then refill your rack to seven tiles; you may also pass or exchange tiles. The game ends when the bag is empty and a player has played all their tiles: everyone deducts their remaining tiles, which the player who went out adds to their score.
The rules, step by step
Setup
15 × 15 board, 102 tiles, 7 tiles each
- A 15 by 15 board, and 102 tiles in the French edition, including two blanks worth nothing.
- Each player draws a tile: the one closest to A starts (a blank or a tie means drawing again). The tiles drawn go back into the bag.
- Each player draws seven tiles and keeps them hidden on their rack.
- Letter values in the French edition: A, E, I, L, N, O, R, S, T, U are worth 1; D, G, M are worth 2; B, C, P are worth 3; F, H, V are worth 4; J, Q are worth 8; K, W, X, Y, Z are worth 10.
How to play
1st word in the centre, Refill to 7 tiles, Or pass, or exchange
- The first word must cover the centre square.
- Each following word is placed at right angles to or parallel to a word already on the board, and reads from left to right or from top to bottom. A word may be extended at the front, at the back or at both ends.
- Tiles played on earlier moves can no longer be moved.
- Refill your rack to seven tiles after each move, as long as the bag allows.
- On your turn, you may also pass, at any point in the game.
- Or exchange all or some of your tiles, only if at least seven remain in the bag; you then play nothing that turn.
- A blank stands for any letter you choose; once played, it never changes and scores no points.
- A word played cannot be taken back. A challenged word is checked in the reference dictionary (the ODS in French): if it is not there, the tiles go back on the rack and the turn is lost.
- Proper nouns, abbreviations and words with a hyphen or an apostrophe are not allowed.
- In clubs, a wrongful challenge costs the challenger 5 points per word challenged.
Scoring
Letter values, Scrabble +50, Blank is worth 0
- Each letter carries its value; the blank is worth zero.
- Light blue: double letter. Dark blue: triple letter. Pink: double word. Red: triple word. Two pink squares in the same word multiply it by four, two red ones by nine, three red ones by twenty-seven.
- A premium square only counts on the move in which it is covered.
- Several words formed in one move are added together; a shared letter counts in each of them, with its coloured square.
- Scrabble (a bingo): playing all seven tiles in one move earns a 50-point bonus.
End of the game
Bag and rack empty, Leftovers deducted, Player out gains them
- The game ends when the bag is empty and a player has played all their tiles: each player then deducts the value of their remaining tiles, and the player who went out adds that total to their score.
- It also ends when nobody can play any more and the bag no longer allows an exchange, or when all the players have passed twice in a row: each player then deducts their remaining tiles, with nobody gaining them.
- In French club play, the FISF rules only stop the game once both players have each passed three times in a row, six passes in all.
House rules and pitfalls
In Duplicate, all players share the same draw and only the best move counts: luck disappears.
- In Duplicate, all players share the same draw and only the best move counts: luck disappears.
Going further
Variants · Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Variants
Format
Classic
Everyone plays their own tiles on a shared board: the rules in the box, and in clubs.
Duplicate
Everyone has the same tiles; the best word, the top, goes on the board, and each player scores their own word. No tiles are deducted at the end.
Timed
With a game clock, as in clubs: each player has a time allowance for the whole game, and must pass once it runs out.
choose them when you start a game: the scorer adapts
Frequently asked questions
How much is each letter worth in Scrabble?
In the French edition: one point for A, E, I, L, N, O, R, S, T, U; two for D, G, M; three for B, C, P; four for F, H, V; eight for J and Q; ten for K, W, X, Y, Z. The two blanks are worth nothing.
Does a blank score points?
None, even when it stands for a Z. It does benefit from squares that multiply the whole word, though: a blank played on a red square does triple the rest of the word.
Does a premium square count every time a word goes through it?
No, only on the move in which it is covered. A word built later over the same square gets nothing from it.
What is a Scrabble worth?
A 50-point bonus, on top of the word, for whoever plays all seven tiles in a single move. The bonus is added after the multipliers.
What happens when a word is challenged?
Check it in the ODS. If the word is not there, the tiles go back on the rack and the player loses their turn. If it is there, play goes on — and in clubs, the challenger loses 5 points per word wrongly challenged.
How does the game end?
When the bag is empty and a player has played their last tile. Each player then deducts the value of their remaining tiles, and the player who went out adds the total of all those tiles to their score.