Scrabble board game - classic version
Formally, the history of Scrabble began in the United States in 1938, when Alfred Butts created the prototype of the game called Criss-Crosswords. Ten years later, the work of the founding father of Scrabble was continued by James Bruno. It was he who gave the game its current name and rules. Four years later, "Scrabble" ascended to the Olympus of the American entertainment market.
At the same time, national versions of the game began to appear. The localization of Scrabble for the USSR was called "Erudite". With a detailed review of this game, you can. Other varieties of Scrabble have also emerged. Changes in them affected not only the name, which in our latitudes is often pronounced as "Scrabble". There is a version for children, travelers, a modification of Twists & Turns, a mathematical version.
And yet the most popular is the classic Scrabble. It is played by millions of people in various countries, it is according to its rules that local tournaments and the world championship with an impressive prize fund are held. Who knows, maybe someday you will get it? A good reason to get to know Scrabble better now.
Game package
The game comes in a bright green box, which is not ashamed to present to someone as a gift. Packed inside is a playing field, a sheet of rules, 102 letter tiles and 2 empty ones, a pouch and dice holders. There are only 4 of them, according to the number of the maximum planned number of players. However, you can play with a larger company, just someone will do without coasters, and the game itself will take less time.
Chips 18x18 mm in size are made of white plastic, they are light, smooth, pleasant to the touch. Stands are also plastic, dark green, quite ergonomic. For the duration of the game and subsequent storage, it is convenient to put the chips in a green cloth bag with the inscription Scrabble. All these elements are high-quality and solid, even with intensive use they look like new for a long time.
You can't say the same about the rules. The most important instruction is printed on a regular sheet of paper, which wrinkles too easily. It must be handled with extreme care, otherwise it will quickly lose its presentation, and the letters will begin to wear off.
The durability of the playing field is also in serious doubt. The field itself is a square with a side of 27 cm, divided into 225 cells, 15 in 15 rows. It is printed on glossy paper, which is pasted on hard rough cardboard. The print quality is good, the different colors of the cells are clean and bright, the inscriptions do not blur and everything is translated.
But in order for the field to take up less space in the box, a solid base is folded in the center. And at the place of the fold, the cardboard is thin, so when it rubs, it breaks through - a matter of time. Just in case, it is better to be careful with him too.
Rules and gameplay
The box states that Scrabble is for 2-4 players. It is believed that this is the optimal number of people for a party lasting about an hour and a half. In fact, there may be more players, up to 10 or more. It is important that everyone gets 7 tokens with letters. True, in this case, the game will not last long and will not be very exciting. If there are 6-8 people in the company, everything is fine.
First, the participants of the game conduct a draw. That is, they draw one at a time from the bag with all the chips. The one who gets the letter closest to the beginning of the alphabet gets the right to make the first move. To do this, the bones removed for the draw are sent back to the bag, after which each player takes 7 chips from there. Of course, it is better not to show them to your opponents.
Now you can start the game. The essence of "Scrabble" is to compose words from the letters that fell out to the participants. The first player places a word on the field, placing the bones with letters vertically or horizontally so that one of them occupies the central cell of the field. This square is marked with an asterisk and doubles the points earned per word.
To calculate them, you need to add up the value of each letter written under it on the chip. (To calculate the points earned by the players, you will need paper and a pen. Moreover, it is worth writing down not only points, but also the words themselves in this sheet - it is much more convenient.) Since the player has spent part of the chips, he takes the same number of bones from the bag. So he again has 7 chips in his hands.
Meanwhile, the next party member adds one or more letters to the composed word. As a result, a new word should appear on the playing field. The use of the letters set by the first participant for this is mandatory. You cannot form a separate word at the other end of the playing field, only to get twice as many points.
You can place your letters between two different words (such an opportunity appears closer to the middle of the game), in front of the word of the previous participant, behind him, at a right angle or parallel, close to him. In this latter case, the fully contiguous letters must form complete words in their own right.
This is difficult, but there is good news: it is allowed to use the plural form of words, declensions for cases of different parts of speech, including verbs of different tenses, particles. It is easier to list what remains banned. You can not use non-existent words, prefixes, suffixes, abbreviations, words with a hyphen, apostrophe and proper names.
Having made his move, the player gets chips up to seven pieces and counts the points for the word. By correctly placing a letter, you can get double or triple the number of points for it or the entire word. It is enough to take a colored prize cell with the appropriate signature.
And here there is one nuance. Even those letters of the word composed by him that have already been placed on the playing field go into the overall standings of the player. But the bonus points for those of them that hit the double-triple cells through the efforts of the previous participant do not bring bonus points the second time. Only the net worth of each letter is counted.
This is how the whole game process goes. Participants compose their words, count points for them, try to squeeze the maximum out of the letters they have dropped out. If the player fails to make a word from the chips in his hand, he skips a move or, in exchange for a pass, changes one of the bones. Naturally, at random.
A game of Scrabble is considered complete when the bag of chips is empty, one of the participants has completely used their knuckles, or everyone has managed to skip two moves. The same thing happens if none of the players can make a word even after changing the chips. Then the game ends, and the winner is the one who has earned the most points.
Game impressions
Scrabble is deservedly considered a game not only interesting, but also very useful. According to competent experts, it develops logical thinking, attentiveness, expands vocabulary and increases the level of literacy. Many experienced fans of the game compare it to chess and share winning strategies with each other.
Well, novice Scrabble lovers are surprised to find that this is an exciting and fun action. Indeed, after reading the rules, one may get the impression that Scrabble is a complex and prohibitively boring game. In fact, the gameplay is much easier and more fun than you expect.
The game is played with pleasure by teenagers and adults, couples and large companies. A game of Scrabble is appropriate even at a holiday party, where figuring out whether a particular word exists takes place with particular excitement. And also this game is a good non-trivial gift, for which you definitely won’t have to blush.
Scrabble (translated from English as “digging around in search of something”) is a very popular game. For the first time in Russian, the rules of Scrabble were described in 1968, in the journal Science and Life. The name of the game was translated as "Crossword". However, the game was widely known later as "Erudite" or "Slovodel".
Description of the board game set: board and chips
The field of play is a square with dimensions of 15 by 15 divisions - a total of 225 seats. Also in the set there are game pieces - wooden or plastic squares with letters and glasses printed on them. There are 104 letters in total, the number of copies of each depends on the frequency of its use in a particular language, and the cost of each chip is determined from the same indicator. Also in the set there are several "blanks" or "wilds" that can be used instead of any symbol of the player's choice.
In specialized stores you can buy a desktop in Russian or an English version - Scrabble. The execution and cost of fun can be different: from a cheap set of plastic and paper to collectible handmade wooden sets.
Basic rules and objectives of the game "Erudite"
The main goal of the game is to score more points than the opponent, making up words from chips. There is a variant of the game in which the winner is the one who first scores a predetermined number of points.
According to the rules of the Scrabble game, from 2 to 4 people can take part in the round, depending on the size of the set - more players will need more chips. For those who are not sure about the capabilities of their own memory, it is better to stock up on a piece of paper and a pencil to write down the composed words.
The list of all the rules of the game "Erudite" is not large. It includes the following items:
- Words should be composed in two directions: vertically - "top-down" and horizontally - "left-to-right".
- Before the start of the round, each participant is randomly given 7 chips.
- The player making the first move must place the inscription through the central cell of the field.
- After each move, the player collects the spent chips.
- All subsequent words are compiled only in "connection" with those already laid out.
- If the player does not want to make a word in turn, then he should change the chips and skip the move.
- The participant who used all 7 chips in one move receives additional points.
- A universal chip ("dummy" or "joker") can be used in place of any letter of the player's choice.
- The participant can replace the "dummy" with the required letter, provided that he uses it already in the next turn.
- The above rules can be changed or supplemented by prior agreement of the players.
Point 10 gives the participants scope for the flight of their imagination and makes the game even more interesting.
We count points in the game "Erudite" correctly
Scoring in a game is not easy. Each player should keep a record of the words laid out during the course and the number of points scored. There are specially marked areas on the field that increase the cost of chips. The rules of the Scrabble game for scoring can be formulated as follows:
- The cost of the letter doubles on the green cells of the field and triples on the yellow ones. The extra points are called the premium.
- The sum of the move consists of the value of the laid out letters and is calculated for each player separately.
- If one of the tokens of the word is located on a blue cell, the cost of the word is doubled, on a red cell it is tripled. First, the premium for the letters is calculated, then for the word as a whole.
- If the player used all 7 chips during the turn, he receives a bonus of 15 points.
As you can see, the rules of the game "Erudite" are extremely simple and clear. The colors of the premium game board areas may vary from set to set. In any case, detailed instructions with analysis and illustrative examples for each rule are always attached to the fun.
Who benefits from the game "Erudite"?
In addition to the fact that the fun is incredibly exciting and addictive, it is also a very educational activity. The board game "Erudite" is perfect for schoolchildren and students studying foreign languages.
Scrabble will allow you to arrange a real competition and find out "whose English is better" or "who knows more foreign words." Watching the game is as interesting as participating in it yourself. You can arrange whole tournaments on "Erudite" within the framework of open lessons at school and even among the faculties of higher educational institutions, like chess competitions.
Parents can play "Scrabble" with their children to develop their intelligence and knowledge of the spelling of their native language. Sometimes the desire to win makes the child engage in real word creation and invent non-existent objects and concepts. You should not immediately reject the children's compiled options, it is much more fun to ask the child and listen to his interpretation of the "new" word.
It is amazing that this addictive game was invented during the Great Depression, when people were left without a livelihood by the thousands. However, the unemployed architect Alfred Butts did not lose hope of creating something worthwhile and set fire to the idea of inventing his own game.
Entertaining board game for children and adults
As a scientist, he began to study board games and saw: the main thing in which games with words are inferior to games of chance is that they do not keep score. Alfred decided to fix it. After that, he exclaimed: “I will have my own game, with points and words!” and started making rules.
Butts did a great job and in his creation he combined dependence on chance and ingenuity, using anagrams and crosswords. He determined the number of letters in the set, having studied more than one issue of newspapers, isolating the most common and less used ones. As a result of this research, he evaluated each of them in a different number of points.
Then Alfred sat down to come up with rules and settled on this option: the players along the way lay out a word from their letters so that it “passes” through the one already laid out on the field and brings more points. There are different bonuses (doubling/triple points per letter/word) depending on where the player places the word on the field, as well as for using all of their letters at once.
Beam of light in the dark realm
Invented in difficult years, it was designed to distract people from the hopelessness of the situation and draw their imagination of a calm morning on a sunny terrace. The game will entertain two to four people of any age, disposed to a measured game. Indeed, when playing Scrabble one is drawn to slowly talking with a friend about life and love, leaning back in a rocking chair and sipping lemonade on a hot day. We think Alfred spent more than one summer like this :)
The game has the character of a duel: you need to use bonus cells before your opponent. You will need imagination and the ability to compose anagrams (collect real-life words from the original set of letters), but this may not be enough to win.
Let's say, if you get the letters c, x, h, w, b, e and e, and your opponent has a more or less balanced set, all your erudition will be powerless ... Although no, there is the word "workshop". As you can see, this game teaches not to give up, but to search a little in the halls of the mind :)
Educational game for the whole family
Since Alfred Butts was a frugal and thoughtful man, he decided that his idea would not need to buy anything other than the game itself. The set includes four letter holders, a cardboard box, square chips with letters and a bag for them. All components are of good quality and appearance. Russian analogues and Scrabble in this they are slightly inferior to him, but, on the other hand, they cost less.
When you are on the road, take with you Scrabble Travel. There is a field with convenient cells, so the words will not crumble. And if you like to arrange fireworks from letters, then Scrabble wants to come to you to repeatedly transform into bright green entertainment :)
Scrabble (or Scrabble in the original) is a classic and fun word game. The goal of the game is to score the most points for the words on the playing field, which are somehow tied to the words of other players. To play Scrabble, you will need at least one partner. You will also need an official playing field and a complete set of tiles with letters. During the game, you will have to invent words, count points and challenge the wrong words of your opponents, and if necessary, change the bones in your hands if they do not suit you at all. In this case, one player will be responsible for keeping a record of the points scored by all players, so that at the end of the game a winner can be determined. If you enjoy this game, you can start meeting your friends outside the playing field more often or consider joining the Scrabble club and even sign up for related competitions.
Steps
Part 1
Preparing for the game- double letter- a bone that falls on this square receives twice the number of points from that indicated on it.
- double word- a word with a letter that fell on such a cell receives a total doubling of points for it.
- triple letter- a bone that has fallen on this square receives three times the number of points from that indicated on it.
- triple word- a word with a letter that lies on such a cell receives a total tripling of points for it.
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Challenge the words of other players. If you think that the word posted by another player does not exist or there is a mistake in it, then you can challenge it. The contested word is checked against a dictionary.
- If the contested word is present in the dictionary and the player spelled it correctly, then it remains on the playing field and the player receives points for it. The person who disputed such a word misses his turn.
- If the word is not in the dictionary or it contains an error, then it is removed from the playing field. The player receives no points and wastes the current turn.
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Exchange bones with letters you don't need. At some point in the game, you may decide to exchange some or all of your tiles for new ones. The exchange is considered a move. Unwanted tiles are discarded into the bag and shuffled, after which you draw the same number of tiles that were discarded. Remember that when you make an exchange, you lose the right to compose a word on the same turn.
Make sure you have everything you need to play Scrabble. Before you start playing, you need to make sure that you have everything you need for it. You will need one game board, 104 letter tiles, one tile stand for each player, and a tile bag. You will also have to find from one to three partners in the game.
Find a dictionary so you can deal with difficult cases. There are situations when during the game one of the players puts out a word that seems erroneous to other players or is not a word at all. In such a situation, this word needs to be checked in a dictionary. Therefore, you simply need to have a dictionary on hand to deal with such cases.
Pour the bones with the letters into the bag and shake it. In order for the bones with the letters to mix well, they must be poured into a bag, tied and shaken well. If you don't have a bag, you can simply place the bones face down on the table and shuffle.
Decide who will start the game first. Pass the bag around to each player and ask them to draw one bone from it. Open the elongated letters by laying them out on the table. The game begins with the player who has a tile with the letter “A” or the letter closest to it (in alphabetical order). Throw the letter tiles back into the bag and shuffle again before typing letters to play with.
Pull the dice out of the bag to play with. Starting with the player who drew the letter closest to the “A”, pass the bag around to all players and draw 7 tiles each (without peeking). Do not show your bones to other players. Place them on the bone stand and pass the bag to the next player. All participants in the game should have 7 bones.
Build new words based on the ones already laid out. In subsequent moves, new words must build on those already laid out. You can not lay out separate words on the playing field, they must all be interconnected.
Use your letter dice in such a way as to score the most points in a turn. It would be wise to think over several options at once and choose the one that will bring you more points. At the same time, try to use the advantages that give players the prize squares of the playing field, as well as high-value letters, such as “Ф” and “Ш” or “ъ”. The types of prize squares that you will find on the playing field are listed below.
Part 3
Scoring-
Pay attention to the prize squares of the playing field. Prize squares allow you to increase the number of points you get for a word, so pay special attention to them during the game. You can use the properties of the prize square only if you placed a letter tile on it during the current turn. Those prize squares whose properties have already been used by you or other players in previous turns do not count again.
- When taking into account the prize squares for the letters and the word, the full points for the letters are calculated first of all, and only then the bonus number of points for doubling or tripling the word is determined. For example, if your word covered the "Double letter" and "Triple word" squares at the same time, then you must first count the double letter, and then multiply the total score for the word by three.
Keep track of points as the game progresses. It is very important to keep an accurate score for each player throughout the game. The player who made the word must announce the number of points scored by this word, and the person responsible for recording the points must carefully record the points of all players after each move.
