How to play Scrabble: the full rules (US and Canada)

Everything you need to settle an argument at the table, in plain English. These are the standard Hasbro rules of the board game as played in the US and Canada, with notes where NASPA club and tournament play differs.

What is in the box

A standard Scrabble set from Hasbro contains a 15 by 15 board, 100 letter tiles, four tile racks and a bag to draw from.

• A board of 15 by 15 squares, with colored premium squares and a star in the center.
• 100 letter tiles: 98 letters and 2 blanks. Each letter shows its point value. See tile values and distribution.
• A tile rack for each player, and a bag to draw tiles from.

The game is for two to four players. You also need something to keep score with, such as the score sheet on this site.

The aim of the game

The aim is to finish with the highest score by building words on the board, crossword-style. Each word scores the value of its letters, boosted by any premium squares it covers. When the game ends, the player with the highest total wins.

Setting up

To set up, put all the tiles in the bag, draw to see who goes first, then deal each player seven tiles.

1. Put all the tiles in the bag and shake them up.
2. Each player draws one tile. The player whose letter is closest to A goes first, and a blank beats any letter. Return these tiles to the bag and mix again.
3. Each player draws seven tiles and places them on their rack, hidden from the other players.
4. Play passes to the left (clockwise) after each turn.

Your turn: three options

On each turn you do exactly one of three things: play a word, exchange tiles or pass.

1. Play a word. Place tiles on the board, announce your score, and draw back up to seven tiles.
2. Exchange tiles. Swap some or all of your tiles for new ones from the bag. This uses your turn and scores nothing.
3. Pass. Do nothing and score nothing.

Placing tiles

Place all your tiles in one straight line, across or down, so that every word you form is valid and the play connects to tiles already on the board.

• The first word must have at least two letters and must cover the center star. The star is a double-word square, so the first word always scores double.
• Every later word must connect to tiles already on the board, by joining onto an existing word or crossing through it.
• All the tiles you place in one turn go in a single straight line, either across or down. They must form one continuous word along that line. Gaps are allowed only where tiles already on the board fill them.
• Words read left to right or top to bottom. Diagonal and backwards words do not count.
• Every new word you form must be valid, including short words made where your tiles touch neighbors. All of them score. See scoring cross-words.
• Once a word has been played and scored, its tiles stay where they are for the rest of the game.
• After playing, draw as many tiles as you used, so you have seven again (or as many as remain in the bag).
• Play all seven tiles in one turn and you score a 50-point bonus, which North American players call a bingo. See scoring.

Premium squares

Premium squares multiply the value of a single letter or of a whole word, and a standard board has 61 of them: 24 double letter, 12 triple letter, 17 double word (including the center star) and 8 triple word.

• Apply letter premiums first, then word premiums.
• A premium counts only on the turn a tile is first placed on it. After that it is an ordinary square.
• A word covering two word premiums multiplies by both: two double-word squares make ×4, two triple-word squares make ×9.

The scoring guide works through examples of each.

Blank tiles

A blank tile can stand for any letter you choose, but it is always worth zero points, even on a letter premium. When you play it, say which letter it represents. It keeps that letter for the rest of the game. It still triggers a word premium if it sits on one.

Which words are allowed

Any word in the agreed dictionary is allowed, including plurals and other inflected forms. In the US and Canada, clubs and tournaments use the NASPA Word List 2023 (NWL2023), and families usually use the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD) from Merriam-Webster. See sources and word lists for the options.

Not allowed:

• Words that always start with a capital letter, such as names of people and places.
• Abbreviations, unless the word list includes them as words in their own right.
• Prefixes and suffixes standing alone.
• Words that need a hyphen or an apostrophe.

Two-letter words are the most useful to learn. Start with the full list of 107 NWL2023 two-letter words.

Challenges

Any player can challenge a play they think is not valid, as long as they do it before the next player starts their turn. Look the word up in the agreed dictionary or a word checker, and look it up only after the challenge is made.

• If the play is not valid, the player takes their tiles back, scores nothing, and loses the turn.
• If the play is valid, the challenger loses their next turn. Hasbro’s rules and NASPA’s tournament rules agree on this: the loser of a challenge loses a turn.
• All the words made in one play are challenged together, and if any one of them is not valid, the whole play comes off the board. Only one turn is lost on any challenge.

Agree which version you are using before the game starts. Many families play with no penalty at all and simply look words up.

Exchanging and passing

You can exchange tiles instead of playing a word, and in tournament play you may do so only while at least seven tiles are left in the bag.

• Hasbro’s rule sheet does not state a minimum, but NASPA tournament rules require at least seven tiles in the bag, and most players follow that.
• Put the tiles you are discarding face down, draw the same number of new tiles, then return the discards to the bag. Drawing first means you cannot get the same tiles straight back.
• An exchange or a pass counts as a scoreless turn.

Ending the game

The game ends when the bag is empty and one player uses every tile on their rack, or when nobody can or wants to play. In detail, it ends when:

• the bag is empty and one player has used all the tiles on their rack (they have “gone out”), or
• no one can or wants to play. In tournament play this is defined as six scoreless turns in a row, counting passes, exchanges and challenges that fail.

Then adjust the scores:

1. Every player subtracts the total value of the tiles left on their rack.
2. If a player went out, they add the combined value of everyone else’s leftover tiles.

The highest score wins. Ties: under Hasbro’s rules, the player with the higher score before the end-of-game adjustments wins. The scoring guide has a worked example, and the score sheet has rows built in for both adjustments.

Club and tournament play

NASPA, the North American Scrabble Players Association, sets the rules for sanctioned clubs and tournaments in the US and Canada, and they add a clock and a fixed word list to the standard game.

• Word list. Play uses NWL2023, which replaced NWL2020 on February 29, 2024.
• Clock. Each player has 25 minutes for the whole game. After that, 10 points come off your score for each minute or part of a minute you go over.
• Challenges. The loser of a challenge loses a turn, as in the standard rules.
• Ending. Six scoreless turns in a row can end the game, as described above.

Rules are updated from time to time, so check the current NASPA rules before you enter an event. They are linked under sources.

Common house rules

House rules are agreed variations on the official rules, and they are fine as long as everyone agrees before the first tile is played. Popular variations:

• Turn time limit. One to three minutes per turn keeps the game moving. The score sheet has a timer built in.
• Open dictionary. Players may check whether a word is valid before playing it. This is good for learners and younger players.
• No penalty for challenges. Look up any word without anyone losing a turn.
• Team play. Two pairs share a rack each and discuss their moves.
• Shorter games. Hasbro’s rule sheet offers a 9-tile version and a “Finish Line” version that ends when one player reaches an agreed score.

More variations, including brand names, recycling blanks and how to score them: Scrabble house rules.

Sources and word lists

In the US and Canada, club and tournament players use the NASPA Word List 2023 (NWL2023), and families use the Merriam-Webster Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD) or any dictionary the table agrees on.

NASPA Word List 2023 (NWL2023)

NWL2023 is the official word list for competitive play in the United States and Canada, in force since February 29, 2024. It replaced NWL2020. It is based on the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, but it also includes words the dictionary leaves out, such as offensive words, and words of nine or more letters. NWL2023 has 107 two-letter words and 1,085 three-letter words, and it holds 196,601 words in all. It is shorter than Collins Scrabble Words, so some words you can play in the UK, such as CH, ZE and ZO, are not valid in NWL2023. For the full list, see two-letter words.

Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD)

The OSPD is Merriam-Webster’s Scrabble dictionary, and the usual choice for family play in the US and Canada. The seventh edition came out in November 2022, and NWL2023 includes every word in it. An eighth edition was published on September 28, 2026 with over 200 new playable words, including boba, kayfabe, spox, yas and zoomies. Words added to a newer edition may not be valid in NASPA club play until NASPA adopts a new word list, so check which edition your group is using. Merriam-Webster also runs a free Scrabble word finder that checks words against the OSPD.

Family games

For a family game you can use any dictionary the whole table agrees on, as long as you agree before the first tile is played. Hasbro’s rules say the same: agree on a dictionary before the game, and consult it only when a play is challenged.

Official rules

Hasbro makes Scrabble in the US and Canada, and its rule sheet is the basis for this page. For clubs and tournaments, NASPA publishes the Official Tournament Rules, which cover the clock, challenges and how a game ends.

Where this information comes from

• Hasbro: Scrabble rules
• NASPAWiki: Official Tournament Rules
• NASPAWiki: NWL2023
• NASPA Word Judge
• Wikipedia: NASPA Word List
• Merriam-Webster: Scrabble word finder
• Merriam-Webster: the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, eighth edition (2026)
• Slate: the seventh edition of the Scrabble dictionary (November 2022)
• cross-tables.com: the NWL23 Cheat Sheet

Last reviewed: October 2026.