How to play Scrabble

What do you need to play Scrabble?

This guide describes the standard rules of the English-language edition for two to four players. Clubs, apps and other editions can differ in the details.

A set has a square board of 15 by 15 squares, 100 letter tiles (2 of them blank), a bag for the tiles and a rack for each player. Each tile shows a letter and its point value. You also need paper to keep score.

How does a turn work in Scrabble?

Each player draws 7 tiles. The first player lays a word of at least two letters across or down so that it covers the centre square. After that, players take turns:

1. Place one or more tiles in a single row or column.
2. Join the new tiles to the tiles already on the board. Every line of two or more touching letters must be a word.
3. Add up the score of every new word you made, including words formed in the other direction.
4. Draw new tiles until you hold 7 again, as long as tiles are left in the bag.

Instead of playing a word you can pass, or exchange some of your tiles for new ones from the bag. An exchange scores nothing and is only allowed while at least 7 tiles are left in the bag.

How do you score in Scrabble?

A word scores the sum of its letter values. Common letters are worth little and rare ones a lot:

Premium squares raise the score. A double-letter or triple-letter square multiplies the value of the tile placed on it. A double-word or triple-word square multiplies the value of the whole word. The centre square counts as a double-word square.

A premium square counts only on the turn a tile is first placed on it. Later words that pass through that square score the tile at its face value.

If you play all 7 tiles from your rack in one turn, you earn a bonus of 50 points on top of the word score. Players often call this a bingo.

What are the special rules in Scrabble?

Blanks

A blank can be any letter. You say which letter it stands for when you play it, it stays that letter until the game ends, and it scores 0 points.

Challenges

Before the next player moves, an opponent can challenge a word. Look it up in the word list or dictionary you agreed on. If the word is not acceptable, the player takes the tiles back and scores nothing for the turn. If it is acceptable, the challenger pays a penalty: many groups make the challenger lose a turn, and clubs often take points instead.

End of the game

The game ends when a player has used every tile and the bag is empty, or when no one can make another play. In club and tournament games it also ends after six scoreless turns in a row. Each player then subtracts the value of the tiles left on their rack, and a player who used every tile adds the total of everyone else's leftover tiles.

What are the most useful Scrabble tips?

• Learn the two-letter words. They let you play alongside other words and score in two directions at once. Start with the two-letter words.
• Use hooks. A hook is a letter added to the front or end of a word already on the board, such as S after CAT, so that your new word runs alongside it.
• Keep a balanced rack. Aim for a mix of vowels and consonants; a rack of mostly vowels or mostly consonants is hard to play.
• Save the S and the blank. They make bonus plays and hooks possible, so spend them on a big score rather than a small one.
• Put high-value letters on premium squares. A Q or Z on a triple-letter square can be worth more than a long word elsewhere.
• Watch the triple-word squares. Avoid opening one for your opponent unless your own play scores well.
• Exchange when your rack is poor. Giving up one turn to swap bad tiles can pay off over the next few turns.