Scrabble is one of the most beloved board games because it inspires a bit of competitiveness among players and makes you use your brain to strategize the best moves. If you find yourself losing time and time again when playing Scrabble, it may be time to switch up your strategy. Check out the strategic tips below to discover how to maximize your Scrabble score and win the whole game.
Use High-Value Letters Strategically
Z and Q are the highest in value with ten points each, X and J come in next with eight points. If these letters come across your rack, it is important to think of the best words possible to use them with. It is also important to strategize where you can put the high-value tiles to get the most points possible. If you see an opportunity to place a ten-point tile on a bonus square, like the triple word or triple letter score, you will earn a high double-digit score.
Setting up words that allow you to play parallel words will help you to use the high-value tiles more than once in a single game. This will help you to score many more points than you would if you didn’t plan out your moves ahead of time. Even better, if you can get a high-scoring letter over a bonus square and you can make parallel words with it, you will surely have the most points in the game.
Use Online Tools
Sometimes a little digital help will get you to a higher score than the traditional way of playing. If you are trying to improve your Scrabble score, then use tools like the Word unscrambler for Scrabble where you can input your rack of letters and the tool will tell you all of the possible words you can make with them. This can help with the speed of gameplay as well as educate you on how to spot unique and high-scoring words. After using tools like the unscrambler for a few rounds, you may start to notice yourself getting better at finding good words on your own.
Other online tools include word scramble and puzzle games that you can download onto your phone. You can play these games on your commute to work or whenever you have free time and want to improve your vocabulary. There are even Scrabble-adjacent apps that you can get so that you can play a digital version of the game on the go to improve your strategy. With all of the same tiles and the same board, you can get very familiar with using all of the letters in different combinations. Having a digital platform for which to practice will make you even more of a pro when you play the physical board game with your friends and family.
Strategize When to Use Bonus Squares
There are bonus squares scattered throughout the Scrabble board that can make the difference between winning big and having just an average score. Knowing how to position your words to fit perfectly into the different bonus squares is key to maximizing your score. The board has double-letter, triple-letter, double-word, and triple-word tiles placed in tricky areas, making it difficult to place words and letters on them without some forethought. Every time you put a word down, try to make sure that it leads you to a path where you can create words over the bonus squares. Stealing these spots from other players will also ensure that you end up with more points from them.
Memorize Short, High Scoring Words
Taking the time to memorize short words that include letters like Z, Q, X, and J will help them come to you quickly when you are playing Scrabble in real-time. By playing word games on your phone to studying the dictionary, you can build your vocabulary to help you score bigger in Scrabble.
Keep a Balanced Rack
It can be tempting to use all of your vowels or all of your consonants in one go, but then you may be left with a mismatched group of letters. Make sure to always maintain a balanced number of vowels and consonants so that it is easier to make words quickly. Sometimes you will have to sacrifice a turn to swap out unwanted letters. This will set you back a little bit, but you can regain points in the next round if you set yourself up for success.
Try Going for a Bingo
A bingo in Scrabble is when you use all seven letters in your rack for a single move. If you can achieve this, you will get fifty bonus points, hopefully getting you ahead of your opponents. The way to become a bingo pro is to spend some time memorizing common seven-letter words so that when you are faced with the letters in your rack, your brain can quickly formulate possible words. To boost your vocabulary, you can use different word game websites to help you build a more complex knowledge of words to use for your next Scrabble game. The more words you know, the better chance you have of achieving a bingo score the next time you play.
Use Blanks Wisely
If you come up with a word that you want to use but the letter you require is rare and likely not going to come across your rack, this is the time to use a blank tile. There are only two blank tiles in the entire letter set of a Scrabble game, so if you get one, it is an invaluable playing piece. They come in handy as well if you want to reach a bingo and have all of the letters except one.
Pay Attention to Other Player’s Strategies
Being observant of everything that is happening on the board is the best way that you can be prepared to place your letter tiles in the most strategic way. If you watch the moves of your opponents, you can predict what they might do next and swoop in to place your own words in the most opportune slots.
Playing Scrabble is always a fun and competitive mind game and can only increase in entertainment when you pull out complex and high-scoring words to impress your friends and relatives. Follow these strategies to maximize your Scrabble score every time.
