Scrabble

Scrabble is a board game for two to four players in which they accumulate points by building words. Each tile has a letter that is worth a specific number of points. Common letters, such as vowels, are only worth one or two points, while the more unusual letters, such as Z, Q, and X are worth more. The tile values vary according to the language. Scrabble is available in 29 different languages.

Alfred Mosher Butts invented Scrabble in 1938 and based it on an earlier word game he invented called Lexiko. James Brunot bought the rights to manufacture the game in 1948 and left most of the game unchanged from its original format. It was he who gave it the name of Scrabble, which means “to scratch frantically”. The big break came for the game when the owner of Macy’s played the game on vacation and later learned his stores did not carry it.

The board for the game is a 15 X15 grid of squares, each of which is large enough for one letter tile. There are 100 tiles in the game with values ranging from 1 to 10. The value is based on the frequency with which the letter occurs in words of the language. In the English game, tiles containing Q or Z are valued at 10 points for the letter. There are two tiles that do not contain a letter giving the player a chance to decide what letter it would be to make a word. There are no points awarded to these tiles. There are a number of squares on the board that add points to a total score, such as double or triple letter or word score.

Players draw 7 tiles out of a bag and then attempt to form words out of the letters in their turn. The first player to start will form a word out of some or all of the letters and places the tiles in the centre of the board. All subsequent words have to be connected to this beginning word. Players can add one letter to make a word plural and they can add up, down or across from any letter in the word. In the case of joining groups of letters, all letters must form a word.

Each time a player makes a word, the value of the tiles is added up and added to the score. If a player uses all seven tiles to form a word, he/she can add an extra 50 points to the score as well as the rewards for using a space for double or triple scores. Each time a player uses one or more of the tiles, he/she takes the number of tiles used from the bag. Players can also use their turn to exchange tiles. This continues until all of the tiles are used and either one player has all the tiles used or none of the players can form any more words. The player with the highest score wins.