Many players believe winning a Scrabble game is about the number of words you know. The misconception that the more words you know, the better your chances are so untrue. If you think similarly, think again! While Scrabble is a phenomenal game that tasks your memory, it requires you to use the best strategies.
Whether you want to play Scrabble leisurely or professionally, we are here to help. You don’t need an IQ of 160 or the Scrabble textbook at the back of your mind; you need to know the rules and tricks. Although the tips aren’t a panacea, you are a step closer to becoming a master with them. This article covers everything you need to improve your Scrabble gameplay and more.
The Set-up: Before the Tips and Tricks of Scrabble
Scrabble is a board-and-tile with a 225-square board, four racks, and a bag of 100 tiles. The tiles span from the letter A to Z in different frequencies. Players, ranging from 2-4, pick seven tiles from the shuffled bag at the start of the game. After each turn, players must refill their racks with tiles to ensure they are seven.
All interested players must pick a tile for the bag at the start of the game to decide who plays first. Anyone with the tile closer to the letter A goes first and in that order. Also, a player with a blank title starts first. A Scrabble game aims to haul the most points. Now, let’s review the gameplay rules and how best to execute them.
Critical Rules of Scrabble Gameplay
Although you can decide whatever manner you want to play Scrabble, there are official rules that must be followed. Using the rules can serve as a crucial leverage to attain mastery. If you want to play a better Scrabble game, here are five critical rules you should know:
Acceptable Wordplay
While playing Scrabble, you must understand that not all words are acceptable on the board. You can’t play acronyms, proper nouns, abbreviations, and prefixes. Plus, words that involve hyphens and apostrophes aren’t allowed. Some foreign words can go to the board as long as they are in the Scrabble dictionary.
50 Bonus Points
Bingo! Whenever players exhaust all their tiles on a word, they get fifty points extra. For instance, you had the tiles (D, A, C, M, N, I, Y) and played Dynamic. Afterward, you get 50 points plus the expected points from the play. Note this only counts when the tiles you have are seven tiles. It gives you an edge while playing and sets you apart.
Challenging Your Opponent’s Play
If you sense that the word your opponent played isn’t within the acceptable range, you can challenge it. It has excellent gameplay, and it comes with a bit of risk. If this manoeuvre works out, your opponent removes his placed tiles on the board and loses a turn. But if it goes the other way, they get all their points, and you miss your turn.
This move works best when you have a dictionary around. However, it would help if you are careful while using this maneuver. While it’s a tremendous tool when you are sure of what you are playing, you should tread cautiously.
Point Values
The Scrabble board is littered with several bonus points. Common examples include double letter, triple letter, double word, and triple word. Using these points is the quickest way to get high scores. But once they are used, they can’t be reused. A saying that you can use to remember is, “If you don’t see it, you can’t use it.”
The square with a star at the center of the board stands for a double word. Only the first player can use it! The other bonus squares are labelled DLS, TLS, DWS, and TWS. You can use the bonuses to score even higher, so look out for them and integrate them into your strategy.
Last Lap
Scrabble is not an endless loop of placing tiles on the board. The fascinating game does have an end. Contrary to what you might think, Scrabble doesn’t end when every player finishes. The game ends when a player finishes their tiles, and it comes with a sweet incentive.
The player that finishes first adds all the points left in their opponent’s rack to theirs. But it doesn’t stop there. The opponent’s rack points are also removed from their score. This tip is essential, especially towards the end of the game.
These five rules are vital points to consider while playing games. They offer a push to your needs as a player hoping to win a Scrabble game. You can twist the rules to your advantage and turn the balance to you.
Scrabble Strategy
Like most board games, Scrabble has an element of strategy involved. Mastering the strategy is what leads to big wins. It would also be best if you practised tactics and defense in Scrabble. Here are some of the tricks you can use to master the technique:
- Two-Letter Words. To win a Scrabble game, you need to know the two-letter words. They are the best ways to get rid of the vowels and get out of sticky situations.
- Three-Letter Words. Using three-letter words is another way to escape a sticky situation, just like two-letter words. However, three-letter words are a lot, so it might be a fool’s errand to have them all to memory if you can; good luck! Learn the three-letter words for Scrabble here.
- Use the Q-words. Q carries one of the highest points in the bag. When Q is on the rack, players often want to get rid of it because it is not very versatile. However, more than 30 words include Q.
- Suffixes and Prefixes. If you don’t always have to make up words, you can add to the words already on the board using suffixes and prefixes. You can use suffixes like -s, -ed, -er, ly, -ent, -iest, -ful, -ity, -ness, -cy, -al, -tion, -ite, and -ing. Also, you can use prefixes such as non-, ex-, tri-, pre-, re, un, in, and mis-.
- Use the High-Value Letters. Everyone loves big letters like J, Q, Z, and X until they want to make words with them. When you have these letters, focus on the high-value letters. If you find them tiring, you can slap some vowels on it and get them over with.
- All Vowels. No player loves it when they have a rack full of vowels. In the world of Scrabble, vowels often require consonants. But there are several all-vowel words you can use. These words include aria, area, aerie, eerie, aurei, or urea.
- Read Your Opponent. Like most games involving other players, you must learn to read your opponents. Watch how they play and how best to turn the situation in your favour. For instance, if your opponent keeps playing a letter or two at each turn, they might plan a bingo. As a result, you can look for ways to counter them.
Final Thoughts
Scrabble is an undeniably fascinating game to play. You can better your opponents in countless ways, and it doesn’t start with learning many words. Aside from our list, you can exchange, use fake words, and try other tactics. This iconic board-and-tile game is exciting to master, with so many possibilities. Get started with the tips you have learned and win more matches!