Эрудит (Polymath) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Rules of Play
• Start of the Game
• Playing the Game
• Scoring
• Tile Counts and Letter Values

Rules of Play

In the game take part 2 people or more. Before the start of the game the players establish the order of turns. The winner is the one who first scores the agreed number of points. Words are formed necessarily either horizontally or vertically, and must be read from left to right or from top to bottom.

During one turn a player may form several words from the 7 tiles held in hand. New words may not be placed on an empty part of the board without connection to the previous words. New words must include a previously played word, or a letter or letters of neighbouring words, for example:

                          К2
              А1 Р2 Г3 О1 Н1 А1 В2 Т2
                  О1      С2
                  З5 Е1 М2 Л2 Я3
                  А1      О1     Д2
                       И1 С2 К2 Р2 А1
                                 О1

(Printed illustration of new words crossing the words already on the board.)

Start of the Game

1. The tiles are placed on the table or on the lid of the box with the reverse side up (face down) and are shuffled.
2. Each player takes 7 tiles.

Playing the Game

1. The first word formed is placed horizontally or vertically so that one of its letters falls on the central square of the board.
2. The player counts the points scored for the word (or words) formed, and then tops up his tiles to 7.
3. The next player forms new words by adding one or several letters to a word, or to letters already on the board.
4. The universal tile (*) may take the value of any letter. Once placed on the board, it may be replaced by the next player with a tile bearing the real letter, and that letter tile must necessarily be used in the same turn. Printed example:

Э10 Р2 У3 Д2 И1     *           *   =   Т2

(Printed example: the word ЭРУДИТ is being completed, and the universal tile () stands for the letter Т, worth 2 points.)*

5. A player who cannot (or, for tactical reasons, does not wish to) form any word may, by saying "меняю" ("I exchange"), exchange any number of tiles from 1 to 7 for new ones, and passes his turn.
6. Play continues until one of the players reaches the agreed number of points, for example 200. While this happens, the players who still have the right to a turn are given the chance to place their tiles and score additional points.

Scoring

1. The score for each turn of a player is made up of: a) the sum of the letter values of the words formed; b) bonuses for placing letters on bonus squares.
2. Bonus squares for letters. The value of a letter placed on a green square is doubled; on a yellow square it is tripled.
3. Bonus squares for words. If one of the letters of a word is placed on a blue square, the value of the whole word is doubled; on a red square it is tripled. If the letters of a word are placed on letter bonus squares and word bonus squares at once, the letter bonuses are counted first, and then the word bonus.
4. The letter bonus and the word bonus are credited only to the player who first occupies the bonus squares.
5. Each player who uses all 7 tiles in a single turn receives an additional bonus of 15 points.

Note: By agreement of the players, changes to these rules may be introduced, for example playing against the clock, or with a time limit on each turn for thinking, and so on.

Tile Counts and Letter Values

The printed sheet has no heading over this table. Its two captions read "Number of tiles" (Количество фишек) and "Numerical values of letters" (Численные значения букв). The letters are kept in Russian because they are the tile letters.

Letter	Number of tiles	Letter value	Letter	Number of tiles	Letter value
А	10	1	Н	8	1
Б	3	3	О	10	1
В	5	2	П	6	2
Г	3	3	Р	6	2
Д

Count check: the tile column as printed sums to 128 lettered tiles plus 3 universal tiles. The rules text (Rules of Play) states 131 lettered tiles plus 3 universal tiles. The two printed figures do not match. Both are reproduced as printed and the discrepancy is disclosed here rather than corrected.