Scrabble Express
Scrabble Express Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
Be the first to score 200 points by forming high scoring words, taking advantage of the value of the letter dice as well as the premium squares on the mat.
Contents: SCRABBLE playmat, 12 Letter dice, Sand timer, Storage cup and lid, Score pad, 1 Pencil.
Setup
Remove dice from the blister and place them in the storage cup. Roll for the first play. Each player takes a die and rolls it. The player with the die that has the letter closest to "A" plays first. A blank die beats any letter. Return the dice to the cup.
Gameplay
To start play, the first player randomly draws 7 dice from the cup and rolls them. Start the timer. Players have only 60 seconds to form their word. The first player combines 2 or more of his/her letters to form a word, and places the word on the board to read either across or down with one letter on the ★ square. Diagonal words are not allowed. If the player does not have his/her word on the mat when time is up, he/she loses the turn and play passes to the left.
After playing a word, the player places any remaining dice back in the cup and records his/her score. See SCORING on page 4. Play passes to the left.
The second player, and then each player in turn, draws 7 dice from the cup and rolls them. Note: if there are less than 7 dice, the player uses all the dice in the cup. Players can never roll more than 7 dice. Once the dice are rolled, the timer is started. This time, however, the player must add one or more letters to the word already played to form a new word(s). All letters played must be placed in one row across or down the board to form at least one complete word. If, at the same time, they touch other letters in an adjacent row, these must form complete words, crossword fashion, also. The player gets full credit for all words formed or modified on his/her turn. See EXAMPLES OF WORD FORMATION AND SCORING on pages 6-7.
If a player extends the current word and does not form a second word, all the dice are returned to the cup at the end of the turn. The next player would then start his/her word in the center ★ square.
New words may be formed by:
a) Adding one or more letters to a word already on the board.
b) Placing a word at a right angle to a word already on the board. The new word must use one of the letters already on the board or must add a letter to it.
c) Placing a complete word parallel to a word already on the board so the adjacent letters also form complete words.
(See EXAMPLES OF WORD FORMATION AND SCORING on pages 6-7.)
Challenging a Word
Before the game begins, players should agree on which dictionary they will use, in case of a challenge. All words labeled as a part of speech (including those listed of foreign origin, and as archaic, obsolete, colloquial, slang, etc.) are permitted with the exception of the following: words always capitalized, abbreviations, prefixes and suffixes standing alone, words requiring a hyphen or an apostrophe.
Any play may be challenged before the next player starts a turn. If the play challenged is unacceptable, the challenged player takes back his/her dice and loses that turn. If the play challenged is acceptable, the challenger loses his/her next turn. All words (not just one) made in one play are challenged simultaneously. If any word is unacceptable, the entire play is unacceptable. Only one turn is lost on any challenge. Consult the dictionary for challenges only.
Here's where things get "SCRAMBLED"
Once the word is formed and the score calculated, the player REMOVES the letters that were present at the start of his/her turn, minus any letter that was used to form the new word, and returns them to the dice cup. Therefore, there is never more than one word on the board at the start of a turn.
Scoring
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The scorekeeper tallies each player's score, entering it after each turn. The number below the letter on the dice indicates the score value of each letter. The score value of a blank is zero.
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The score for each turn is the sum of the letter values in each word(s) formed or modified on that turn, plus the additional points obtained from placing letters on premium squares.
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Premium Letter Squares: A light blue square doubles the score of a letter placed on it; a dark blue square triples the letter score.
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Premium Word Squares: The score for an entire word is doubled when one of its letters is placed on a pink square; it is tripled when one of its letters is placed on a red square. Include premiums for double or triple letter values, if any, before doubling or tripling the word score.
If a word covers two premium word squares, the score is doubled and then re-doubled (4 times the letter count), or tripled and then re-tripled (9 times the letter count).
NOTE: The center ★ square is a pink square, which doubles the score for the word played on this square.
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Letter and word premiums count only on the turn in which they are played. On later turns, letters already played on premium squares count at face value.
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When a blank is played on a pink or red square, the value of the word is doubled or tripled, even though the blank itself has no score value.
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When 2 or more words are formed in the same play, each is scored. The common letter is counted (with full premium value, if any) for each word.
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BINGO! If you play seven letter dice on a turn, it's a Bingo. You score a Bonus of 50 points after totaling your score for the turn.
Winning
The first player to score 200 points wins!
Examples of Word Formation and Scoring
In the following, the words or letters added on five successive turns are shown.
Turn 1: Score 34. The grid shows the word HORSE placed across the board. The H is scored as a triple letter first; the R as a double letter and then the score is doubled because the E is on the ★ square.
Turn 2: Score 45. The grid shows HANKY down from the H of HORSE. The total word score is tripled because the Y is on a TRIPLE WORD SQUARE.
Turn 3: Score 21. Here the player scores points for making the words CARES, HE, and AS.
Turn 4: Score 23. The grid and caption for this turn are not legible on the scanned sheet; the only readable text is the word S I Z E.
Turn 5: Score 27. In this turn the player scores for both the word WRAPS and SIZES.
Advanced Play
Want to try and make things a little more challenging? Instead of returning all dice to the cup after a player forms a word, in the Advanced Play, any unused dice are passed (with the current letters up) to the next player. This player then draws the remaining dice (up to a total of 7) and rolls them. This allows players to choose which letters to leave for their opponents.