How to play Scrabble

Objective

Build words for points and finish with the highest score after remaining tiles are accounted for. This page uses Hasbro’s US Classic A8166 home rules, not tournament rules or Scrabble Together.

Setup

Agree a dictionary before playing; word lists differ by language and region. Put all 100 tiles in the bag. Each player draws one: the letter nearest A starts, with a blank ahead of A. Return those tiles and mix again. In playing order, take seven tiles each. Keep racks hidden and choose a scorekeeper. Turns proceed clockwise.

Turns

Choose to play tiles, exchange tiles or pass. When placing tiles, put them in a single horizontal or vertical line. Existing tiles may fill gaps in that line. Every new sequence of touching letters across and down must be a valid word.

The first word must contain at least two letters and cross the centre star. Later plays must connect to the existing layout. You may extend a word, cross it or play parallel to it if every resulting cross-word is valid. Diagonal words do not count. Tiles already played cannot be moved.

Announce the score for every word made or extended, add the total to your running score and draw back up to seven while tiles remain.

Legal words and challenges

Use the agreed dictionary to resolve disputes. Names requiring capitals, standalone prefixes or suffixes, and words requiring hyphens or apostrophes are excluded under these home rules. An expression’s appearance in everyday writing does not establish its eligibility; check the agreed word list.

A player may challenge before the next player starts. An invalid play is removed and the person who made it loses that turn. If the challenged play is valid, the challenger loses their next turn. Check every word formed by the play, including short cross-words.

Scoring and blanks

Add the values printed on the tiles for each word formed or extended. Existing letters count again when they belong to a newly scored word. Premiums apply only on the turn a tile first covers that square.

Square or play	Effect
Double or triple letter	Multiply the newly placed tile’s value by two or three
Double or triple word	Multiply the whole word’s value after letter bonuses
Centre star	Double word on the opening play
Two word premiums in one word	Apply both multipliers: two doubles give four times the score
All seven rack tiles played	Add 50 after scoring the words

If one new tile belongs to two words, count it and its applicable premium in each word. The seven-tile bonus is awarded once for the turn; playing a seven-letter word with fewer than seven new tiles does not qualify.

A blank may represent any letter. Announce its letter when playing it; that identity stays fixed. It always scores zero, including on letter premiums, but it still activates a newly covered word premium.

Exchanging or passing

To exchange, set aside the unwanted tiles face down, draw an equal number from the bag, then return the discarded tiles to the bag. This uses the turn and scores nothing. You need enough tiles in the bag to draw the replacements. You may also pass while keeping your rack, even when you could play.

Worked example

For an opening CAT, C is worth 3 and A and T are worth 1 each. With A covering the centre star, the score is (3 + 1 + 1) × 2 = 10.

If the C is a blank declared as C, the same placement scores (0 + 1 + 1) × 2 = 4. On a later turn, extending CAT to CATS scores the completed word, but the centre star no longer doubles it.

Winning

The game ends when the bag is empty and someone plays their last tile, or when every player passes twice in successive turns. Subtract each player’s remaining tile values from their score. If someone emptied their rack, also add all opponents’ remaining tile values to that player’s score.

For example, you go out on 210 points while the other players retain tiles worth 8 and 12. Your final score becomes 230; they subtract 8 and 12 from their own scores. A leftover blank deducts zero.

The highest final score wins. In this edition, a final-score tie is broken by the higher score before the unused-tile adjustments.

Common mistakes

• Reusing a premium on later turns.
• Ignoring the short words created beside a parallel play.
• Giving a blank the value of its represented letter.
• Awarding 50 for a seven-letter word that used existing tiles.
• Checking a dictionary for possible moves instead of using it for challenges.

Variants

Tournament play can change dictionaries, challenge penalties, exchange requirements and the ending condition. Do not mix those rules into this edition. Returning a board blank to a rack is an optional variant in the A8166 guide, not part of the standard play described here.