Scrabble / Scrabble Together Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object
• Contents
• What Is a Cooperative Game?
• The Playing Board
• The Letter Tiles
• Set Up
• Let's Play
  • Completing Goals
  • Playing the First Word
  • Next Player's Turn
  • Helper Cards
• How To Play Words
• Permitted Words
• Ending the Game

Object

Work as a team to complete 20 Goal Cards before the game ends.

Contents

• 1 Tile Bag
• 4 Tile Racks
• 56 Cards (50 Goal Cards, 6 Helper Cards)
• 100 Letter Tiles
• 1 Playing Board

What Is a Cooperative Game?

Scrabble Together is a cooperative game, meaning you all win or lose as a group. Everyone must work together to complete 20 Goal Cards before the end of the game.

That being the case, you should play in a way that helps each other complete goals. For example, if you see that one of the current Goal Cards is "Play on a 'red' premium square," you could play a longer word to help the next player reach a red premium square. There are just a few limits on the information you can share:

• You cannot show your letter rack to the other players.
• You cannot mention which letters you have or do not have on your rack.

The Playing Board

The Scrabble Together side of the playing board contains several differently coloured "premium squares." Some Goal Cards will ask you to play words across a premium square of a certain colour.

The Letter Tiles

There are 98 letter tiles with point values in their corners. Some Goal Cards will ask you to play a word using a letter of a certain point value.

There are also two blank tiles – these can be used as any letter you like, but once played, the letter it represents cannot be changed.

Set Up

Open the Scrabble Together side of the board in the middle of the play area.

Remove the 6 Helper Cards from the deck and place them faceup beside the board.

Shuffle the remainder of the deck (the Goal Cards) and deal out a stack of 20 cards beside the board. This is the draw pile. Return the remaining cards to the box—they won't be used this game.

First Time Players: For an easier game, use the 20 cards marked with the starter symbol instead.

Goal Card diagram labels: Starter Symbol; Goal; "Tips on each card teach basics of the classic Scrabble® game."

Flip over the top three Goal Cards and place them in a row next to the draw pile. These are the current goals. Leave a space nearby to place Goal Cards you have completed.

Place all the letter tiles in the tile bag. Each player, in turn, draws seven tiles and places them on their racks.

After reviewing the current goals, decide who will go first.

Let's Play

Completing Goals

Each Goal Card has a task you complete by playing a word in a specific way. For example: "Play on a square at the edge of the board," or "Play a horizontal word."

Sometimes you may be able to complete more than one goal at a time. Using the example above, you could complete both goals by playing a horizontal word that touches a square at the edge of the board.

Every word you play must complete one or more of the current Goal Cards. Place completed Goal Cards into the completed goal pile, then replace them with new cards from the draw pile. There should always be three current Goal Cards next to the deck.

If you cannot complete a goal, you must use a Helper Card (see the next column).

If you cannot complete a Goal Card and there are no Helper Cards left, the game ends in a loss.

Playing the First Word

The first player combines two or more of their tiles to form a word that completes one or more current Goal Cards and places the tiles on the board either across or down – no diagonals – with one tile on the star square in the centre.

You don't score points for building words. Some goals reference the point value of letters, but beyond that, the point values shown on the letter tiles are not used in Scrabble Together™. The only "score" you need to worry about is how many Goal Cards you have completed.

At the end of every turn, draw as many new tiles as you've played to keep seven tiles on your rack and replace any completed Goal Cards.

Next Player's Turn

The second player, and then each player in turn, adds one or more tiles to those already on the board. Tiles added must form new words at least two letters long and complete one or more current Goal Cards.

All tiles played in this and later turns must be in one continuous line across or down.

If letters touch other letters already on the board, they must form complete words crossword fashion.

Helper Cards

Helper Cards provide a little powerup, allowing you to perform special actions that may help you or another player. Each Helper Card can only be used once and must then be removed from play. If, after using a Helper Card, you are able to play a word that completes one or more Goal Cards, you may play that word as normal. Otherwise your turn ends.

There are six different Helper Cards:

• Complete a Goal Card: Select one faceup Goal Card and put it into the completed goal pile as if you had completed it, then replace it with a new card.
• Exchange Tiles: Replace any or all the tiles in your rack. First set aside all the tiles you wish to exchange from your rack, then draw that many new tiles from the bag and place them on your rack. Finally, place the tiles you set aside in the bag.
• Extra Tile: Each player draws an 8th tile and adds it to their rack. Players refill back to 7 tiles as normal at the end of their turn.
• Make a Blank: Flip over one of the tiles on your rack. That tile counts as a blank tile for the rest of the game.
• Refresh Goal Cards: Put all the current Goal Cards on the bottom of the deck and replace them with new cards.
• Trade Tiles: Select any number of tiles from your rack and place them faceup on the table in front of you so everyone can see. The other players decide which tiles each of them wants to take, giving you one tile from their rack for each tile they take. All tiles you placed on the table must be taken. Show the tiles you receive to the other players before placing them on your rack.

How To Play Words

There are five different ways that new words can be formed:

1. Add one or more tiles to the beginning or end of a word already on the board, or to both the beginning and end of that word.

   For example: TRAINER becomes STRAINERS.

2. Place a word at right angles to a word already on the board. The new word must use one of the letters of a word already on the board.

   For example: Adding HROB to the T already on the board to make THROB.

3. Place a complete word parallel to a word already played so that all adjoining tiles also form complete words.

   For example: Adding HOB also forms HI, ON and BE.

4. Place a new word so it adds a letter to an existing word.

   For example: THROBS is played with the S linking onto TRAINER to make STRAINER as well.

5. "Bridge" two or more letters from words that are parallel on the game board.

   For example: CO, QUE and T is fitted between an N and an S on the board to make CONQUEST.

Permitted Words

As in the classic Scrabble® game, you may play any words listed in a standard English dictionary except those only spelt with an initial capital letter, abbreviations, prefixes and suffixes, words requiring apostrophes and hyphens, and words recognised as hate speech.

Ending the Game

The game ends in one of two ways:

• If you complete all 20 Goal Cards, everyone wins!
• If you cannot complete a Goal Card on your turn and there are no Helper Cards left, everyone loses. Try again!