Dabble
Dabble Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Players, Ages and Playing Time
For: 2-4 Players, Ages 8 to Adult
Playing Time: 2 minutes per round (30-60 minutes per game).
Object of the Game
Each player's goal is to create one 2 letter word, one 3 letter word, one 4 letter word, one 5 letter word, and one 6 letter word from 20 selected tiles. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1 shows a finished set of five words built from all 20 tiles: WE (2 letters), FUN (3), TURN (4), SUPER (5), and CLEVER (6). The caption reads "Create 5 words using all 20 tiles!"
Game Rules
Place all of the tiles on the table face down.
Each player picks 20 tiles without looking at them. Keep them face down in front of you.
Once all of the players have selected their tiles, turn the timer over and begin the first round. All players turn their tiles face up, and begin to create their 5 words. (See Figure 2.)
The FIRST player to spell ALL 5 words correctly wins the round and shouts out "DABBLE" to end the round.
All players MUST stop playing at this point. Score the round per below.
If NO player is able to spell ALL 5 words in the first round, you can exchange any tile(s) you want for new ones. Once all of the players have done this, turn the timer over and begin round 2. Keep repeating until someone spells ALL 5 words.
SPECIAL NOTE: For easier game play, remove the timer and any player can choose to exchange any or all of their tiles at any point during the game. Players should put the tiles they choose to exchange back on the table face down in the main pile and pick out the same number of new tiles they discarded.
Figure 2 shows the stepped red rack, the two-minute sand timer, and a spread of face-up tiles on the table.
Scoring the Round
All players get to add the points from each tile used to spell their words. The winning player gets to add "25 Bonus Points" for being the first player done. (See Figure 3 and 4.)
Example #1: The winning player in Figure 3 below would get 15 points for the 2-letter word, 18 points for the 3-letter word, 12 points for the 4-letter word, 15 points for the 5-letter word, and 33 points for the 6-letter word. The total would equal 93 points plus they would add 25 bonus points for a total score of 118 points for round 1.
(Figure 3 shows the completed WE / FUN / TURN / SUPER / CLEVER arrangement from Figure 1 with the timer beside it.)
Example #2: The player on the right in Figure 4 below would get 15 points for the 2-letter word, 15 points for the 3-letter word, 21 points for the 4-letter word, 30 points for the 5-letter word. The total would equal 81 points for round 1.
(Figure 4 shows two players' boards. The left player has WE / FUN / TURN / SUPER / CLEVER. The right player has OH / CAT / YEAR / FUDGE, with the tiles K, H, B, T, V, S shown in a loose row below.)
To Win
The first player to score 500 points wins.
Challenging a Word
When the 5 words are presented to finalize a round, any player can challenge a word, either as being misspelled, or not a word at all. Refer to your personal dictionary to settle challenges.
If the challenger is correct and the word is indeed incorrect, the presenter of the word deducts the points for the incorrect word from their score and must stop playing for that round, but they can still add the points from the correct words to their score once the round is over.
All remaining players continue playing until one player spells all 5 words correctly.
Specialty Tiles
Blank tiles have no point value, but can be used as any letter.
Acceptable Words
All words found in a standard English dictionary can be used in the game. Some words are not allowed and these include abbreviations, prefixes, suffixes standing alone, and proper nouns.
When playing in English, remove the 8 Spanish tiles labeled rr, rr, ll, ll, ñ, ñ, ch, ch.
Game Contents
140 English tiles (plus 8 Spanish tiles); 4 Five-Tier Stadium Style Racks; 1 Two-Minute Sand Timer, and Rules.
Tile Distribution
11 A, 4 B, 3 C, 6 D, 16 E, 3 F, 5 G, 4 H, 10 I, 2 J, 2 K, 6 L, 3 M, 9 N, 10 O, 3 P, 2 Q, 8 R, 6 S, 8 T, 6 U, 3 V, 3 W, 1 X, 3 Y, 1 Z, 2 BLANKS, 2 ch, 2 rr, 2 ll, 2 ñ