Wordscraper is a game having a number of similarities to
Scrabble®.
The main differences are as follows:
There are two versions of Wordscraper: standard and configurable. The standard version has
a fixed set of rules, while the configurable version allows the layout of bonus squares on the board and
the point values and distribution of the letters to be adjusted by the players, whlie retaining the
other structural features of the standard game (e.g.,
players drawing letters and then taking turns playing them to make words on a common playing grid)
While configurable Wordscraper can be adjusted by the user, it does not allow users to
configure it so that it has exactly the same features as
Scrabble®, presumably due to intellectual
property issues
In all Wordscraper games, so long as sufficient tiles remain available, players draw a number of tiles
sufficient to place eight letters on their racks
prior to each play, instead of the seven letters used for
Scrabble®
In all Wordscraper games, the point values of the various letters are different than
in Scrabble®
In all Wordscraper games, the distribution of the letters (i.e., the total number of tiles provided for
each letter) is different than in Scrabble®
In all Wordscraper games, bonus squares are positioned on the board in different locations than in
Scrabble®
Wordscraper allows quadruple and quintuple letter and word squares, in addition to the
double and triple letter and word squares that are allowed by
Scrabble®.
Although players fill their racks (when letters are available) with eight letters prior to each play,
there is a bonus of 40 points for using just seven letters, and a bonus of 50 points for using eight letters.
This is different from Scrabble®,
which only allows a "bingo bonus" for the use of all seven of the tiles available to be played.