Minnesotastan, the blogger behind TYWKIWDBI plays Scrabble avidly. At his home, players operate under unusual and unofficial rules:
The "house rules" are that Scrabble will be the "open book, double bag, triple return, blank start and recycle" version. This means that each player starts with a blank, and after it is played as a given letter, anyone with that letter in their rack can play the letter and pick the blank up for reuse (that's the "recycle" part).
The "double bag" refers to the fact that we keep consonants and vowels in separate bags. When you draw your letters you can do so from either bag in whatever proportion best balances your rack. If you get three of a letter, you can exchange one of them for a different letter. This prevents winding up with the dreaded IUIUCIW-type rack.
The "open book" part is fairly common among recreational Scrabblers. We have not only several dictionaries available, but also a variety of word building books, and sometimes a laptop logged on to an anagramming website.
And finally we spin our racks around to ask the other person (I wouldn't use the word "opponent") for advice/suggestions.
Do you play any alternative versions of Scrabble?
Photo: David Martyn Hunt
My house rule:After a blank tile has been played, a player can replace it with the real letter that it represents at the start of their turn. They get no points for the letter they just lost, but they do get a blank to use. Then they must use the blank in the word they make that same turn. No hoarding blanks.
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