How to play the crossword game Scrabble? What are the need-to-know rules for a quick start? What is Scrabble? All summarized for you in this article!
Scrabble is a fun crossword game played with 2, 3, or 4 players. There is also a Turkish version of this game played in 29 different languages in 121 countries. The game is also very popular in our country. So, how to play Scrabble? What are the rules of Scrabble? What is Scrabble?
How to Play Scrabble?
1- Make sure that no pieces are missing before you start the game
When you open the box, you will see a 15×15 game board, 100 letter pieces (2 of which are joker pieces), a total of 4 game chocks for the players to string the letters they have, and a bag to put the letter pieces.
2- Preparation
The game board is placed on a flat surface. 100 letter pieces are put in the bag and each player has a chock in front.
Each player draws a letter piece from the bag to find out who will start the game. The player whose letter is closer to the letter A starts the game. The player who draws the joker piece pulls a second letter from the bag. If more than one player draws the same letter, they continue to draw until a different letter appears.
After finding out who will start the game and in what order the round will be, all drawn letters are put back into the bag and the bag is shuffled.
The player in the first place randomly draws the 7 letter pieces from the bag and places them on his or her chock without showing anyone. In turn, all players draw 7 letter pieces from the bag and place them on their chocks.
3- Let the Game Begin!
The player who gets the right to make the first move places the word he or she created using the letters on his chock on the board in a way that any letter of that word corresponds to the starry cell in the middle of the game board. The point deserved for the starting move is twice the total point of the word.
The player who makes his or her move draws a random letter piece from the bag to top up the number of letters on his or her chock to 7, and then comes the other player's turn.
The point earned from the word the players write on the board in each round is carefully noted on a previously prepared scoreboard. Managing the scoreboard is the responsibility of one of the players or an audience watching the game.
4- Which letter earns how many points?
The 26 letters in our alphabet earn various points from 1 to 10 depending on the frequency of their use in the words.
Letters with a low frequency of use earn a higher point, while letters that are frequently used earn a lower point. The point earned for each letter is indicated in the lower right corner of the letter piece.
There are also 2 joker letters in the game. We can use these letters as a replacement for any letter we want. But we should not forget that no matter which letters the joker replaces, the point this piece earns is always zero.
5- Cells earning extra points on the game board and bonus points
Another important detail we should pay attention to when calculating the points of the moves we make is the cells on the game board that earns extra points.
When you look at the game board, you will see that some cells are colored and there are expressions such as K2, K3, H2, H3 on them.
For any letter of the word you place on the board;
- the total point the word earns will be multiplied by 2 if it coincides with cell K2,
- the total point the word earns will be multiplied by 3 if it coincides with cell K3,
- the total point the word earns will be multiplied by 2 if it coincides with cell H2,
- the total point the word earns will be multiplied by 3 if it coincides with cell H3.
There is also a "bonus point" in the game. If you manage to write a word using all 7 letter pieces on your chock, you earn +50 points in addition to the points you earn with the move.
6- How to determine the winner?
The game ends in two situations:
- If one of the players has no letters left on his or her chock.
- When players bypass twice on each other.
The player who uses all the letters on his or her chock and ends the game also earns the points of the letters remaining on the other players' chocks.
In the end, the points earned by all players are added up one by one and the player with the highest score becomes the winner of the game.
7- Game Tips
Although Scrabble may seem like a word-focused game, it also contains many different disciplines in itself. You will, too, realize this as you play the game.
- First of all, it will be useful to have a dictionary of the Turkish Language Association with you to decide whether the word placed on the board is a "valid" one.
- If you're having trouble creating words from the letters on your chock, try swapping the letters. This will make it easier for you to change your perspective and come up with new words.
- The most annoying thing in the game happens when the letters on the chock are all vowel or consonant. In such cases, don't be afraid to change letters. When it's your turn to make a move, identify the letters you want to get rid of and do get rid of them. You can even create a 7-letter word with the letters you draw as a replacement and change the game's destiny.
- At the end of the game, try not to have letters with high points on hand. Please note that when a player ends the game, the remaining letters of the other players are credited to his or her account as points.
A-9, B-2, C-2, D-4, E-12, F-2, G-3, H-2, I-9, J-1, K-1, L-4, M-2, N-6, O-8, P-2, Q-1, R-6, S-4, T-6, U-4, V-2, W-2, X-1, Y-2, Z-1 and Blanks-2.
- (1 point)-A, E, I, O, U, L, N, S, T, R
- (2 points)-D, G
- (3 points)-B, C, M, P
- (4 points)-F, H, V, W, Y
- (5 points)-K
- (8 points)- J, X
- (10 points)-Q, Z
We have talked about many details, but to get more detailed information about Scrabble, it will be useful to take a look at the rule book included in the game box. Have fun!