Scrabble

01Discover the game

At the Scrabble, you cross words on a set and look for the placements that bring the most. Knowing the words helps, but you also have to manage his letters and bonus boxes. We play in French, in a family classic formula of two to four, without pendulum. The FISF regulation in force on 1 September 2026 serves as a reference; the family adaptations are announced below.

02Equipment

It takes a tray of 15 boxes out of 15, an opaque bag, 102 tokens, two whites called jokers, a easel per person and a score sheet with a pencil. The 100 letters are: 9 A, 2 B, 2 C, 3 D, 15 E, 2 F, 2 G, 2 H, 8 I, 1 J, 1 K, 5 L, 3 M, 6 N, 6 O, 2 P, 1 Q, 6 R, 6 S, 6 T, 6 U, 2 V, 1 W, 1 X, 1 Y and 1 Z.

A, E, I, L, N, O, R, S, T and U are worth 1; D, G and M are worth 2; B, C and P are worth 3; F, H and V are worth 4; J and Q are worth 8; K, W, X, Y and Z are worth 10.Jokers are worth zero. Use the current Scrabble Official to check the disputed words, or agree on a family dictionary before departure.

03The goal

Get the highest total after the last count. Each turn where you put letters returns the value of the new words formed, with any bonuses earned. The number of letters left in hand does not decide the winner alone.

04Preparing the game

Put the 102 tokens in the bag and mix. Each pulls a letter: the closest to A begins; remove the jokers for this choice and repeat the equities. Put these letters back in the bag, then each pull seven without looking. Keep them hidden on your easel. The tricks move in the clockwise direction.

Choose the reference dictionary. For our family part, you don't look for words in the dictionary during your reflection: it's only for contestation, after a pose. Without a pendulum, leave everyone a reasonable time.

05Lay down, count, exchange or pass

Form valid words

In your turn, choose one of the three actions: pose a word, change letters or pass. To pose, use one or more letters of your easel in a single horizontal or vertical line, without hole between the letters of the final word. The old letters can occupy the intervals. The first word must have at least two letters and cover the central star. It is written from left to right or from top to bottom.

Each next pose must reach the existing words by at least a common letter or a side contact. All groups of letters thus created, including the small perpendicular words, must be valid. You can extend a word at the beginning or end, or place a parallel word if it forms valid connections. You cannot move the old letters.

Words and their accepted bent forms depend on the agreed dictionary; the ODS indicates the accepted forms. No proper names written only as such, unaccepted abbreviations, words of union or apostrophe to be freely reconstructed. The accents are not worn on tokens.

A joker represents the letter of your choice: announce it clearly and write it down. This letter remains fixed for the whole game. The joker is still worth zero and cannot be exchanged for the real letter to recover it.

Calculate the points of the round

For each new word, add the values of all its old letters, including old ones. The double or triple Letter boxes multiply only the newly placed letter on them. Then apply the double or triple Word boxes covered by a new letter. Several word bonuses multiply: two doubles make the word four times. The central star counts double word during the first pose.

If a new letter creates two words, its value and bonus apply in both calculations. Then add all the created words. If you put your seven letters in one turn, add 50 points after the multiplications: it is a "scrabble". A joker on a double word box doubles the word well, even if its own value remains zero.

Announce the words and score before completing your easet up to seven, or with all remaining letters in the bag if there is less. Note the points and cumulation after each round.

Change or pass

If there are at least seven letters left in the bag, you can announce how much you change them, put them aside hidden, pull the same number, then put the old ones back in the bag. You don't put anything down and do not mark any points that turn. If there are less than seven letters left, exchange is forbidden. You can also pass freely, without pose or changing.

Contest a word

For our family procedure, wait for the check before drawing the new letters. An opponent can ask for the control of one or more words just trained. Consult the dictionary only for these. If at least one is invalid, the whole pose is taken over, no points are marked and the turn is lost. If everything is valid, the pose and its score remain. We do not apply the penalty of five points by mistaken contestation of the tournament: it is a family relaxation explicit, not the competition rules.

06An example to understand

In the first round, you place CHAT covering the center, without any other bonus box under its letters. C is 3, H is 4, A and T is 1 : 3 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 9. The center doubles the word, that is 18 points. On the next round, someone adds an S for CHATS, without any new bonus: it counts 10 points. The center no longer doubles a second time.

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For a connection, if you put a letter that forms a horizontal word and a vertical word, count the two words entirely. Do not count the old parts of words that have not been modified and are not part of the newly created words.

07End of game and final count

If the bag is empty and a person poses his last letter, the part stops. Each of the others subtracts the value of his or her easel from his or her total; the person leaving adds the sum of these values to his or her own total. A remaining joker is worth zero.

If all are blocked, each one subtracts only its remaining letters, without any exit bonus. On two, the regulation also provides for a stop after three consecutive passages of each, that is, six passages without pose. For the family parts to three or four of this book, we explicitly extend this convention to three passages of each without interruption through a pose or exchange.

The highest total after these adjustments wins. A tie gives a shared victory. Laying all his letters first therefore does not ensure to win if an opponent had much advance.

08Frequent errors

Don't play diagonally. Check all the small words of connection. Do not re-multiply an old bonus box. Do not change the chosen letter for a joker. Do not remove seven letters from the bag after each pose: only complete your easel up to seven.

09Start well

Learn a few frequent short words, then look at the possible connections. Keeps a mixture of vowels and consonants. A well-placed expensive letter can bring back more than a long common word. Before opening a triple word box to the opponent, compares the immediate gain and the risk.