Scrabble Rules — How to Play and Keep Score
Scrabble is a word building game where the scoring, not the vocabulary, is the chore. Each turn produces one number that already folds in letter values, premium squares and the seven-tile bonus, and a full game is forty or more of those numbers added up under time pressure. That is exactly what a phone is better at than a person.
Overview
Scrabble is a word building game where the scoring, not the vocabulary, is the chore. Each turn produces one number that already folds in letter values, premium squares and the seven-tile bonus, and a full game is forty or more of those numbers added up under time pressure. That is exactly what a phone is better at than a person.
Setup
Each player draws seven tiles. Draw one tile each to decide who starts, highest letter first, with blanks beating everything. The first word must cover the centre square. Enter every turn as a single number, including zero for a pass or an exchange.
How to play
On your turn you either place tiles to form a word reading left to right or downwards, exchange tiles, or pass. Every new word created in that turn scores, including words formed sideways by your tiles brushing against existing ones. Refill your rack to seven from the bag afterwards.
Scoring
Add the face value of every letter in each word formed this turn. Blanks are worth zero.
Premium squares apply only on the turn a tile first covers them. A double or triple letter square multiplies that one tile, and it is counted before any word multiplier. A double or triple word square multiplies the entire word, including tiles already on the board. Multiple word premiums in one word multiply together, so covering two triple word squares multiplies that word by nine. When one tile sits at the crossing of two words, the premium counts for both of them.
Laying all seven tiles in a single turn adds 50 points on top, after all multipliers.
The game ends when a player uses their last tile and the bag is empty. Every player then subtracts the face value of the tiles still on their rack, and the player who went out adds the total of everyone else's leftover tiles to their own score. Enter that adjustment as one final row, negative for the players holding tiles and positive for the player who went out.
If the bag empties but nobody can go out, the game ends after six consecutive scoreless turns. In that case everyone subtracts their own leftovers and no one receives a bonus.
Ending the game
Highest total after the leftover adjustment wins. If a target score is set, the game stops as soon as anyone reaches it and the adjustment is skipped. Genuine ties are shared rather than broken.
Common variations
Many households allow proper nouns or agree that any word in the dictionary on the shelf counts. Free challenging, where a failed challenge costs nothing, is common at home and makes bluffing risk-free.
Scoring at a glance
| Who wins | Highest score |
|---|---|
| Score sheet | One number per player per round, with a running total |
| Typical round score | 0 – 120 |
| Negative scores | Possible |
| Worth knowing | One number per player per turn, already multiplied for premium squares. Negative entries are used for challenge penalties and the final leftover-tile adjustment. |
Scrabble — score sheet
House rules and settings
Every table plays Scrabble a little differently. These are the 7 rules groups argue about. Each one is a setting in the app — and changing it recalculates a match that is already in progress, which is the thing no other score keeper does.
Bonus for using all seven tiles: what is the default in Scrabble?
Extra points added when a player lays all seven tiles from their rack in one turn. Fifty is the standard bonus.
Default: 50. Adjustable from 0 to 100 in steps of 5.
In the app: “Bonus for using all seven tiles”.
Leftover tile adjustment: what are the options in Scrabble?
What happens to tiles still on the racks when the game ends. Standard play penalises the tiles you were stuck with and rewards the player who emptied their rack.
Default: Subtract your own tiles, winner adds everyone else's. Three options:
In the app: “Leftover tile adjustment”.
Penalty for a failed challenge: what are the options in Scrabble?
What happens when a player challenges a word and the word turns out to be valid. Losing a turn is the North American tournament rule, minus five points is the international one.
Default: Challenger loses their next turn. Three options:
In the app: “Penalty for a failed challenge”.
End early at: what is the default in Scrabble?
Stop the game as soon as any player reaches this total. Leave it at zero to play until the tiles run out.
Default: 0. Adjustable from 0 to 1000 in steps of 25.
In the app: “End early at”.
Minutes per player: what is the default in Scrabble?
A clock for each player across the whole game. Zero switches the timer off.
Default: 0. Adjustable from 0 to 60 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Minutes per player”.
Word list: what are the options in Scrabble?
Which book settles an argument. Recorded on the scoresheet so nobody relitigates it halfway through.
Default: Whatever we agree on. Four options:
In the app: “Word list”.
Blank tiles score zero: on or off in Scrabble?
Standard rule. Turn it off if your group gives a blank the value of the letter it stands for.
Default: on.
In the app: “Blank tiles score zero”.
Variants of Scrabble
Super Scrabble
A larger board with 200 tiles and quadruple letter and word squares, so scores roughly double.
Duplicate Scrabble
Every player receives the same rack and board and scores their own best word, removing all luck of the draw.
Clabbers
Words may be played as anagrams and only have to be rearrangeable into a valid word, which makes challenges constant.
Scrabble is also known as
Criss-Cross Words, Scrabble Duplicate. These are the same game — the rules and the score sheet above apply to all of them.
Keep score offline
The sheet above works in your browser. Cardzo for iPhone remembers your players, survives a closed tab, and works in a field with no signal.
Coming to the App Store.