Scrabble Rules at a Glance

Build connected words, count every word you create, and finish with the highest score. This guide explains the classic English-language board game; online adaptations may use different boards, dictionaries or settings.

15 × 15 board · 100 tiles, including 2 blanks · 7 tiles per rack · 50-point seven-tile bonus

Setup · Your turn · Legal moves · Scoring · Worked example · FAQ

🎲 Set Up the Board and Choose Your Dictionary

Place the board between the players, mix the tiles facedown in the bag and give each player a rack. Draw a tile to decide who starts: the letter closest to A goes first, with a blank ahead of any letter. Return these tiles, mix again and draw seven tiles each.

Choose the accepted word list before playing. For English games, North American and international lists can differ. Use the same reference for everyone; a word accepted by one app is not automatically accepted by another. Our Scrabble Dictionary guide explains the distinction.

🔄 What Can You Do on Your Turn?

Play: place one or more tiles to create a legal word, calculate the score and draw back up to seven while tiles remain in the bag.

Exchange: use your turn to replace unwanted tiles instead of scoring a word. Draw replacements before putting the discarded tiles back. Exchange eligibility depends on the ruleset: tournament play commonly requires at least seven tiles left in the bag. Check your edition or app rather than assuming one remaining tile is enough.

Pass: make no placement and score zero. Passing can be useful late in the game, but consecutive scoreless turns can end a game under tournament rules.

🧩 How to Make a Legal Scrabble Move

The opening word must contain at least two letters and cover the center star. It reads left to right or top to bottom. On a standard board, the star is a double-word square.

Later moves must join the existing position. Place your new tiles in one row or column. Existing tiles may bridge the spaces between newly placed tiles, provided the completed word has no gaps. Diagonal words and separate, disconnected placements are not legal.

You can extend a word, cross it using an existing letter, or play parallel so adjacent tiles make valid crosswords. Check every word formed, including short words running perpendicular to your main word. Previously played tiles stay in place.

A one-tile move can be legal if it completes a word of at least two letters. Adding S to CAT, for example, creates CATS. If that S also starts another word in the same turn, score both words.

⭐ Scrabble Scoring: Use the Right Order

For each word formed, apply new letter bonuses first, add the letter values, then apply new word bonuses. Add the scores of all words made by the move. Finally, add 50 points if you played all seven rack tiles.

DL: double that new letter’s value. TL: triple that new letter’s value. DW: double the whole word. TW: triple the whole word. Read the board labels because colors can vary by edition.

Premium squares apply only when a tile first covers them. An old tile contributes its normal value on later turns. Two newly covered double-word squares multiply a word by four; two triple-word squares multiply it by nine.

When a newly placed tile belongs to both a main word and a cross word, score it in both. Its new premium can apply to both words. A seven-letter word is not necessarily a bingo: the bonus requires seven newly played tiles, even if the completed word is longer.

Three Scoring Examples You Can Check

1. Ordinary squares: CAT scores 3 + 1 + 1 = 5.

2. First move: CAT covers the center star, so 5 × 2 = 10.

3. Two bonuses in one word: imagine a later legal placement of QUIZ, with a newly placed Q on DL and a newly placed Z on DW. The letter subtotal is (10 × 2) + 1 + 1 + 10 = 32; doubling the word gives 64. This illustrates the arithmetic, not a complete board position.

🔤 Blank Tiles: Flexible Letters, Zero Points

A blank can represent any letter. Declare the letter when you place it; its identity remains fixed for the rest of the game. Its value stays zero, even on a double-letter or triple-letter square.

A blank on a word premium still activates that premium for the whole word. For example, opening with CAT using a blank as C gives (0 + 1 + 1) × 2 = 4 points. A blank also counts as one of the seven tiles needed for a bingo.

Valid Words and Challenges

Standard play generally excludes proper names, abbreviations and words requiring a hyphen or apostrophe. Short words, inflected forms and less familiar vocabulary can be legal if the agreed list includes them. Familiarity alone does not determine validity.

In a physical game, an invalid word is not automatically removed by software: players use the agreed challenge procedure. Challenge timing and penalties vary between editions and competitions. In many apps, the game checks words before accepting a move. Confirm those settings before starting.

🏁 When Does Scrabble End?

A normal finish occurs when the bag is empty and one player uses their last rack tile. An empty bag alone does not end the game. In classic home scoring, subtract the value of unplayed tiles from each player’s total; the player who went out adds the other players’ remaining tile values.

Example: you finish on 280 points and your opponent has 8 points left on their rack. Your final score becomes 288; their score falls by 8. Blanks contribute zero to this adjustment.

A game can also finish when play is exhausted or under the ruleset’s scoreless-turn limit. Tournament rules may specify a different bookkeeping method, so follow the agreed rules rather than mixing home and competition procedures.

💡 Before You Submit: A Five-Point Checklist

Connection: does the move join the board? Crosswords: are all touching words valid? Premiums: did you count only newly covered bonuses? Rack: what letters will you keep? Reply: have you opened an easy triple-word opportunity?

A short word can outscore a long one when it creates several crosswords. Learn useful two-letter words from your chosen dictionary, compare more than one placement, and keep a workable mix of vowels and consonants. These are strategy tips, not extra rules.

Scrabble Rules FAQ

Put the Rules into Practice

Try Scrabble Online to practice board placement, explore Wordmeister, or use our Scrabble Solver to review possible words after a practice turn. Each adaptation has its own instructions.

Rule references: Hasbro game instructions and NASPA tournament rules. ScrabbleGames.info is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the trademark owners.