How to play Letter Tiles: a visual guide
Letter Tiles is a word game for two to four players on a 13×13 board. You build words from a rack of seven tiles, join them to the words already down and use bonus squares to push your score up. This guide covers the opening play, connecting words, scoring, swapping and passing, and how a game ends.
The board, the bag and your rack
Letter Tiles is played on a board 13 squares wide and 13 high. The tiles come from a bag of 100: 98 letters and 2 blanks. Each player starts with a rack of seven, and after every scored move you draw back up to seven while the bag lasts.
Two to four people can share a room, or you can play a solo game against the computer.
Every tile shows its point value, from 1 for common letters such as E and S up to 10 for Q and Z. A blank stands in for any letter you choose and scores nothing.
The first word covers the centre
The opening play has to cover the centre square, which is also a double word square. In the figures, columns run a to m from the left and rows 1 to 13 from the top, so the centre is g7.
Placing tiles and joining the board
Every move places one or more tiles in a single straight line, across or down, with no gaps. After the opening play, at least one new tile has to touch a tile already on the board. You can preview your tiles on the board and move them around before you submit. Once submitted, they stay put.
Every word the move creates must be in the game's dictionary. That means the main word along your line and any cross-word your tiles make with the tiles beside them.
Tiles that float free of the board are refused, even when they spell a real word.
The game also refuses:
- Tiles spread over more than one row or column, or with a gap between them.
- A main word or cross-word that isn't in the dictionary.
- Moving a tile after the move has been submitted.
Scoring and bonus squares
A word scores the sum of its tile values, and bonus squares change that. A double or triple letter square multiplies the tile placed on it. A double or triple word square multiplies the whole word, after any letter bonuses. A bonus only counts on the turn a tile first covers it. After that it's an ordinary square.
Each move scores every word it makes, cross-words included. Use all seven tiles from your rack in one turn and you get 40 extra points.
A turn, in order
- Review your rack and the open spaces. Look for a line that connects to the board.
- Preview the tiles. Place one or more rack tiles across or down, and pick a letter for any blank.
- Submit, swap or pass. A valid move scores. An invalid one isn't committed, so you can fix it and try again.
- Draw back up to seven. After a scored move you refill your rack while the bag still has tiles.
Swapping trades the rack tiles you pick for new ones from the bag, and it uses your turn. You can only swap while at least seven tiles are left in the bag. Passing ends your turn without scoring.
Score the board, not just the longest word
A long word isn't always the best move. A short one on the right squares can beat it, and cross-words add points without using more tiles.
Keep your rack balanced as well. A mix of vowels and consonants gives you more words next turn, and swapping a bad rack can be worth more than forcing a low-scoring play.
How the game ends
The game ends when the bag is empty and a player uses the last tile on their rack. It also ends after a run of passes in a row: four with two players, six with three and eight with four.
Each player then loses the value of the tiles left on their rack. A player who emptied their rack gains the value of everyone else's leftover tiles. The highest adjusted score wins, and equal scores tie.
The dictionary and the computer opponent
Your moves are checked against the full ENABLE English word list. When the game rejects a move, it names the word that failed and says whether it was the main word or a cross-word.
Against the computer you choose Relaxed, Casual, Skilled or Expert, with Casual as the default. The lower levels stick to familiar words and Expert may use the whole list. So an unfamiliar word from the computer doesn't mean your dictionary changed. Yours is always the full list.
You know the rules. Start a game.
Invite friends to a private room or play solo against the computer. No download, no sign-up.
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