Scoring Scrabble, turn after turn
After each turn, you type the points of everyone's play: Teamzy keeps the totals and ranks the players. At the end, a last round takes everyone's tiles left off their score and gives them to whoever went out.
Scrabble in 30 seconds
Scrabble is played by 2 to 4 players, free-for-all. Everyone has 7 tiles on their rack. On your turn, you place a word on the board, across or down, connected to the words already there (the first one covers the center star), then draw back up to 7 tiles; you can also exchange tiles or pass, without scoring. Each word is worth the sum of its letters, with the premium squares it covers, and playing all 7 tiles at once scores 50 more. The match ends when the bag is empty and a player plays their last tile: everyone then takes off the value of their tiles left, whoever went out adds everyone else's to their score, and the highest total wins.
What each word is worth
Each tile shows its value, from 1 to 10 points; the blank is worth 0. A word is worth the sum of its letters: a double or triple letter score multiplies the tile placed on it, then a double or triple word score multiplies the whole word. A premium square only counts on the turn it is covered. If your play forms several words, each one scores, and the shared tile counts in each word with its premium square. Playing all 7 tiles at once, a bingo, scores 50 more, added after doubling or tripling.
The points of a match
| What counts | Points |
|---|---|
| Word played | letters and premium squares |
| All 7 tiles played at once | 50 |
| Last round: your tiles left | subtracted |
| Last round: you played all your tiles | the others’ tiles added |
| End of the match | Bag empty and a player has played all their tiles, or 6 scoreless turns in a row |
| Tie | the best score before the tiles left |
Letter values
In the English edition (the same from Mattel and Hasbro), each tile shows its value in the bottom right corner, from 1 to 10 points: rare letters are worth the most. The blank, which stands for any letter you want, is worth 0.
| Points | Letters |
|---|---|
| 0 | Blank |
| 1 | A E I L N O R S T U |
| 2 | D G |
| 3 | B C M P |
| 4 | F H V W Y |
| 5 | K |
| 8 | J X |
| 10 | Q Z |
Scoring one play: an 80-point bingo
The first play of the match told below: Léa plays all seven tiles, PLAYERS, across the center star, which counts as a double word score. Her P is on a double letter score, four squares before the star, and her E is on the star.
| Letter | Value | Square | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| P | 3 | Double letter score | 6 |
| L | 1 | 1 | |
| A | 1 | 1 | |
| Y | 4 | 4 | |
| E | 1 | Center star: double word score | 1 |
| R | 1 | 1 | |
| S | 1 | 1 | |
| Sum of the letters | 15 | ||
| Double word score: × 2 | 30 | ||
| Bingo, all 7 tiles played | +50 | ||
| Score of the play | 80 | ||
The example's score sheet
The ten turns of the match told below, then the round of the tiles left: the points of each play, then everyone's total. Léa leads thanks to her bingo, Hugo goes ahead on turn 9, and Emma wins with the others' tiles.
| Turn | Léa | Hugo | Emma |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +8080 (Turn 1: Léa's bingo, 30 points for the word and 50 more) | +1818 | +2424 |
| 2 | +989 | +2745 | +1438 |
| 3 | +22111 | +1257 | +3169 |
| 4 | +14125 | +3996 | 069 |
| 5 | +26151 | +21117 | +36105 |
| 6 | +10161 | +33150 | +19124 |
| 7 | +18179 | +24174 | +28152 |
| 8 | +27206 | +16190 | +22174 |
| 9 | +12218 | +35225 | +26200 |
| 10 | +28246 | +30255 | +41241 |
| Tiles left | −3243 | −8247 | +11252 |
| Final total | 243 | 247 | 252 |
The printable score sheet
A Scrabble score sheet in US Letter, for 2 to 4 players and 20 turns: on each turn, the points of the play and everyone's new total, then the line for the tiles left and the final total. The scoring is recalled at the bottom, premium squares and bingo included. Print it for your next match, or let Teamzy keep score.
Download the Scrabble score sheet (PDF)A whole match for three, turn by turn
Léa, Hugo and Emma play in that order. A whole match, ten times around the table: on your turn, you play a word or exchange tiles, and write down your points.
- 1Turn 1: Léa opens with PLAYERS, all seven tiles at once, across the center star. 15 points of letters (the P on a double letter score), doubled by the star: 30, plus 50 for the bingo. 80 points. Hugo answers with 18, Emma with 24.
- 2Turn 4: Hugo plays a word on a triple word score, 13 points of letters tripled: 39. Emma has drawn nothing but vowels: she exchanges tiles, and this turn scores 0.
- 3Turns 5 to 8: Léa keeps the lead, carried by her bingo. After turn 8, Léa has 206 points, Hugo 190 and Emma 174.
- 4Turn 9: Hugo scores 35 and goes ahead, 225 to 218. On turn 10 the bag is empty: Léa scores 28, Hugo 30, then Emma plays her last tiles for 41 points. Hugo 255, Léa 246, Emma 241.
- 5The match ends there. Hugo is left with a J (8 points), Léa with an E and a D (3 points): Hugo loses 8, Léa loses 3, and Emma, who went out, adds their 11 points.
Emma wins with 252 points, ahead of Hugo (247) and Léa (243).
In Teamzy, one round per turn: you type the points of everyone's play, 0 for whoever exchanges or passes. Round 11 is the tiles left: −3 for Léa and −8 for Hugo with the ± button, 11 for Emma. The app keeps the totals and ranks from highest to lowest; there is no score to reach: tap “End the match” at the end.
The questions that come up around the table
Add up the values of the letters in your word, shown on each tile. A tile placed on a double or triple letter score is worth 2 or 3 times as much; if your word covers a double or triple word score, the whole word is then multiplied by 2 or 3. If you play all 7 tiles at once, add 50 points. At the end of the match, everyone takes off the value of their tiles left, and whoever went out adds everyone else's to their score: the highest total wins.
Official Scrabble rules, from Mattel (PDF)No: a double or triple letter or word score only counts on the turn a tile is placed on it. After that, a word that uses this tile counts it at its face value. If your word covers two double word scores, it is worth 4 times its value; two triple word scores, 9 times. The blank is worth 0, even on a double or triple letter score, but on a double or triple word score it still doubles or triples the whole word.
Each word your play forms or extends scores in full, and you add them up. A tile shared by two words counts in each one, with its premium square if you just placed it there: on a double word score, it doubles both words. Tiles already on the board count at their face value.
50 more points, when you play all 7 of your tiles in one turn. First you score the word with its premium squares, then you add the 50: in the example, PLAYERS is worth 15 points of letters, doubled by the star, 30, plus 50, so 80. The word can also run through tiles already on the board: what counts is emptying your rack.
When the bag is empty and a player plays their last tile, the match ends. Everyone takes the value of their remaining tiles off their score, and whoever went out adds everyone else's tiles to theirs. In the example, Hugo loses 8 for his J, Léa 3 for her E and D, and Emma gains 11. If nobody can play anymore, everyone takes off their own tiles, and nobody gains them. In Teamzy, this is the last round: tap the ± button to type a negative number.
Hasbro, which publishes the game in the United States and Canada, gives the win in its rules to the player who had the highest score before the tiles left were counted: that is the rule Teamzy's scoring help reminds you of. The app shows the tie; to break it, compare the totals without the last round, the one for the tiles left.
Scrabble rules, from HasbroYes. On your turn, you can set aside some or all of your tiles, draw the same number from the bag, then put the ones you set aside back in; or simply pass. Either way, you place nothing and score 0. In tournaments, you can only exchange when at least seven tiles are left in the bag. In Teamzy, type 0 for that player in the round: Emma exchanges on turn 4 of the example.
It's a different format, widely played in clubs in French-speaking countries: everyone gets the same tiles on each turn, each player looks for the best word on their own, and the best possible play is the one placed on the board. Everyone scores the points of their own word, even though the best play is the one placed on the board. Teamzy scores classic matches, free-for-all with your own tiles.
Your next Scrabble match, without pen and paper
Type everyone's points each turn, let the app keep the totals, take off the tiles left at the end and find your matches in the history. Free to start, Premium as a one-time purchase, no account and no ads.
