Scrabble is a game that involves both skill and luck. There's skill in knowing the words you can play and — especially — the most advantageous ways to play them. But there's also luck in the tiles you draw randomly from the bag: get saddled with a rack containing four I's and there's usually not much you can do.
Scrabble is a game of both luck and skill. According to John William, former director of the National Scrabble Association, community consensus is that Scrabble involves about 15% luck and 85% skills.
What is this? According to research from the University of Calgary, Scrabble players are highly flexible in the tools that they use to read, recognize, and understand words. Also, it was found that Scrabble players can “discern between real words and nonsense words” about 20% quicker than non-players.
While Scrabble is a game of strategy, it requires a player to pay attention and have good organizational skills. Players have to ensure that their tiles are arranged in a way that makes sense and allows for words to easily jump out at them. The more organized a player can be, the easier forming words is.
A well-contested Scrabble game should end with around 600 to 700 total points. So, the average Scrabble score to beat is about 350 for a 2-player game, 230 for a 3-player game, and 175 for a 4-player game. If you can regularly score higher than that, you can legitimately claim the coveted title of "Good at Scrabble."
Scientists have found that experienced Scrabble players use different parts of their brains than everyday players - particularly those associated with working memory and visual perception.
It's not how fancy your words are, it's how you use them. Many people think doing well at Scrabble is all about knowing and playing really nice words. It's true that knowing a lot of words is very helpful, but often you get the most points (and improve your position the most) with plain, ordinary words.
Not only is playing Scrabble lots of fun but there has also been research carried out to show that it lowers the risk of mental illness by keeping the brain stimulated and engaged, makes you happy, reduced blood pressure, improves the immune system and improves memory.
As of now, the highest-scoring word ever played in an actual game of Scrabble is caziques. A cazique, or more commonly cacique, is a term for the chief of an Indigenous clan or tribe in Mexico and the West Indies.
For example, chess is called a game of perfect information because you always know what pieces your opponent has and where he/she can move (even if you suffer from temporary chess blindness sometimes). In Scrabble, though, you don't know what tiles your opponent will have.
More than two in five Americans (44%) consider the casino card game, Blackjack, a game of luck over skill (35%). There is a consensus that several popular board games take skill over luck. Most adults agree that it takes good decision-making to win Chess (82%), Checkers (77%), and Scrabble (76%).
Playing word games like Scrabble would usually be the most fun way to learn new words and is also on the list for how to broaden your vocabulary.
There is an adage in Scrabble that says “the player going first will win 54% of the time - all other things being equal”. Going first allows you to control the board - you determine whether your move will be horizontal or vertical , expose a premium square or a double word file, close or open the board.
The highest scoring 7-letter bingo is "MUZJIKS". Though the sum total of the seven tiles is 29 points, if the Z is placed on the double letter square (for maximum score value), the resulting score is (39x2) + 50 = 128 points.
All Scrabble players know that Q and Z are the highest scoring tiles. You can get 10 points for each, in the English language version of the game. But according to one American researcher, Z really only deserves six points.
The basic objective of Scrabble is to play tiles marked with letters on a 15x15 grid to form words. After the initial word is played, players take turns adding words to existing letters. The word list is available in two formats: zipped (688K)
We recommend Scrabble for older people because research shows that it significantly reduces the risk of Alzheimer's and dementia. It's never too late to battle the onset of these mental illnesses. Besides, it sure is a lot of fun to play board games with your grandparents! A classic favorite, with proven popularity.
As the condition progresses some word games are not suitable for a person with advanced stage dementia and can have a detrimental effect. Scrabble (in an adaptive format) can be excellent in the early stages of dementia, but is difficult for a person with advanced stage dementia to engage in.
Playing Scrabble will expand your vocabulary and improve your literacy skills. That's a given. But Scrabble also tests your memory as you learn more words in the dictionary and recall them in-game. Many people are surprised to learn that Scrabble has plenty of math involved, too.
In a typical living-room family game, you might expect to see scores of 200-250. In American tournament play, you'll rarely see a game won with a score under 300, unless it's a very defensive game with a closed-down board. 350 is average, 400 is good. 450 or higher will usually win.