Scrabble Cubes Guide- Part 1

[Renaldo Moon]

Johan's Comprehensive Scrabble Cube Guide: Part 1
Part 2
(Part 3 will be up shortly)

Hi all! It seems a lot of people have a hard time with Scrabble Cubes and feel the only way to get better and compete with the top players is to learn every acceptable 3-7 letter Scrabble words. This isn't the case at all! With this guide, I'll help you hone your Scrabble Cubes skills to score 600, 700, even 800 with ease! Even if you've got the vocabulary of a third-grade student, with the right strategy and lots of practice, scoring 750 or higher on EVERY layout should be a cinch! Now, I wish I could give you one simple, calculated method to scoring high, but unfortunately this isn't a skill that one can automatically acquire. You're first going to have to abandon ALL your preconceptions on how this game should be played. For a quick proverb:

An old story relates an incident where a young man claiming to want to learn something new about the art of Zen visited a famous Zen master. It was obvious to the master at the outset that this young man had already thought he had reached an understanding well beyond his years, but that he was coming to the master simply to be able to say to others that he had indeed studied with the great teacher. The master invited the young man to share a cup of tea with him and he proceeded to fill the young man's cup. When the tea reached the top of the cup, the master continued to pour more tea from the pot. After a short while, the tea began to run over the cup and onto the floor, and, finally, the young man could not contain his anxiety and shouted "Stop! The cup will hold no more!" "So it is with any idea," said the master, "you must first empty your cup before it can again be filled."

After you do this, you should find learning your new Scrabble Cubes method to be very quick and fluid! Even still, you will have to spend some effort practicing and training your eyes to see certain patterns before you score among the top players. To aid in this learning process, I will split this guide into three sections: Beginner, intermediate, and expert levels of play.

Now, Let's get started!

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Layout cube: The "board" that you play on, consisting of 27 smaller cubes.

Triple Word Cube (TWC): The red cube in the very center of the layout cube- It triples the point-value of the word being played (Before point bonuses for length are applied.) Using this cube in conjunction with a Double Word Cube will not cause a 6x Multiplier. The resulting effect would still be 3x. It can, however, be used in combination with double/triple LETTER cubes.

Double Word Cube (DWC): The pink cubes in the bottom-front corner and the top-back corner of the layout cube- This cube double the point-value of the word being played. Additional details are the same as the Triple Word Cube.

Triple Letter Cube (TLC): This cube is the dark-blue cube in the top-front corner, and the bottom-left and bottom-right corners of the layout cube. They triple the point-value of the letters appearing on this cube and only on this cube. (For instance, if a Triple letter cube holds a K, M, and I, the K (Normally worth 5 points) will be worth 15 points when played. The M (Normally 3) will be worth 9, and the I (Normally 1 point) will be worth 3. This bonus can be compounded with the Double Word Cube and Triple Word Cube for an extra bonus (K * Triple Letter Cube * Triple Word Cube = 45 Points)

Double Letter Cube (DLC): This cube works just like the triple letter cube, but offering only double the original point value instead of triple. This cube is light-blue in appearance and can be found in the back-bottom corner of the cube or in the top-left and top-right corners of the cube.

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Beginner Level of Play
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This is where most everyone should focus their attention, because a lot of players even in the high ranks do poorly because of habits they've picked up while they were learning as a beginner.

There are three aspects I will stress in this guide: Consistency, Conservation, and Combos.

-Consistency: Being consistent with the lengths of your words. Don't play a bunch of 3-letter words to clear out cubes in hopes of setting up a 7-letter word or a combo. Play mid-length or long words consistently, even if it takes a bit more time and more cubes.

-Conservation: You've got a limited number of cubes, use them wisely. Can you play a different 6-7 letter word and use one or two less cubes? Conserving your cubes is vital in limited-entry competitions as, since everyone gets the same layout, you want to use the layout to its full extent. Also, this pertains to deleting cubes. If you're considering deleting a cube, make absolutely sure you're better off without it. This pertains more to higher levels of play.

-Combos: This is likely the most recognizable aspect of the game. This consists of making good use of the bonus cubes, and comboing the Triple-Letter Cubes to the Triple-Word Cubes for massive points. A strong game will make good use of this idea, but, because it offers such a big score advantage, too many players lose sight of the other two aspects to try and chase this one. Consequently, this aspect will not be stressed until intermediate level of play.

Because the latter two aspects can be somewhat self-depreciating without a solid foundation on the first, consistency is what I preach most for beginners. If you're new to the game, I know the layout can look complex and daunting, so it's easy pick the first word you see, whether it be "CAT" or "TALL". While playing like this could allow for more words to be played, and quickly, it is most players' biggest flaw. You get a score bonus for each word played, depending on the length of that word:

3 Letters- No Bonus
4 Letters- 5 Point Bonus
5 Letters- 10 Point Bonus
6 Letters- 25 Point Bonus
7 Letters- 50 Point Bonus



A 7-Letter word gives a whopping 50 point bonus! You see then, how big of an impact it can make on your score? A three-letter word gives no bonus at all, so you're just getting the raw points of the letters' values. Thus, unless you're playing ZAX with those three letters, you'll benefit by taking the time to find a longer word. It's not easy to do, especially if you're a new player, but if you never leave your comfort zone of playing 3-letter and 4-letter words, you won't get any better. If you're currently in the habit of only playing 3-letter and 4-letter words, then aim to play only 4-letter and 5-letter words (Of course, also adding in any 6-letter or 7-letter words you might notice), and not playing 3-letter words unless it's entirely necessary. To show you just how big of a difference this makes, I recorded two games, one where I played 3-letter and 4-letter words, and another where I played 4-letter and 5-letter words.

To keep the environment controlled, I ignored bonus cubes and treated them as regular cubes, so that the difference in the two games is strictly the length of the length of the words being played.

3-Letter and 4-letter



vs.


4-letter and 5-letter


You can see the difference between the two games. Just by playing words 1-2 letters longer for the length of the game, I was able to score 120 more points! Of course, simply "playing longer words" isn't always simple, especially for newer players. Worldwinner offers warm-up games to play for free, and I HIGHLY suggest you make use of these to practice. Please don't read this guide, and go enter the cash competitions assuming you automatically know the secrets. Practice, practice, practice in Warm-up games until you notice a significant difference in your scores. Then, if you feel comfortable with it, compete in a cash game. Also, playing a few $1 games, or sending a few of your peers a free challenge, can be a good way to judge how well-suited you are before entering the $5, $10, $20 tournaments, (If you're interested in playing for that much, that is.)


If you read and understand this, but still have trouble employing this strategy, say so! Post it right here in this thread! I'll give you all the help you need to start scoring big! And a few tips:

- When practicing, don't be afraid to take your time! If you take your time to look for longer words, then you're making progress! Even if you don't manage to finish the layout cube, you're getting better! Keep on practicing until you can both keep a good consistency *and* finish the cube!

- Stuck? Need some constructive criticism? Post it here! Record a video of yourself playing, or take a screen-shot of your finishing word list and post it in this thread! I'll be more than happy to offer advice, point out what could've been done differently, and help you identify what you're missing.