Quiddler Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• Deck
• Allowable Words
• Bonuses
• Deal
• Play
• Scoring
• Challenging a Word
• Solitaire Instructions

Goal

To be the player with the highest score at the end of the 8th round by making your entire hand into one or more words.

Deck

The game consists of two 59-card decks with letters A to Z and special double-letter cards: CL, ER, IN, QU and TH. Each card has a point value.

Allowable Words

All words must use a minimum of two cards. Choose your dictionaries before the game begins. All words in your dictionaries are allowed except:

• Proper nouns (Diane, Denver)
• Prefixes (non-, pre-)
• Suffixes (-ing, -ish)
• Abbreviated words (tsp., Feb.)
• Hyphenated words (part-time, long-term)

You can use a dictionary when it's not your turn.

Want to improve your score? Use The Quiddler SHORT Word Dictionary!

Bonuses

There are two bonuses each round, one for the longest word and one for the most words, each bonus is worth 10 points.

• The longest word bonus is awarded for the word that uses the most letters, not the most cards.
• When two or more players tie for a bonus, no bonus is awarded.
• Both bonuses can go to the same player.
• If you're playing with only two people, use just one bonus. Decide which bonus to use before you start your game.

Deal

1. Shuffle both decks of cards together.
2. In the first round deal 3 cards, one at a time, in a clockwise rotation, to each player. Each round, the number of cards dealt increases by one. In the second round deal 4 cards, in the third round deal 5 cards and so on until the last round when each player is dealt 10 cards.
3. Place the remaining cards in the center of the table to make the draw pile and flip over the top card to start the discard pile.

Play

1. The player to the dealer's left goes first and play continues clockwise.
2. Start your turn by drawing a card from the draw pile OR picking up the top card from the discard pile. You can only take the top card.
3. Keep all of your words in your hand until you are able to go out.
4. Complete your turn by discarding one card.
5. Going Out: Start your turn as normal, then lay down your entire hand in one or more ALLOWABLE WORDS on the table in front of you before discarding your last card. You can only use the number of cards you were dealt to make your words. You must have one card left to discard. Your discard can be a playable card.
6. Once a player has gone out, all other players have one more turn. Start your last turn as normal, but lay down any words you can before discarding. You are not allowed to play on another player's words.
7. Players then count their points and the scorekeeper keeps a running tally (see Scoring).
8. The player to the dealer's left shuffles all of the cards and deals the next round. Remember to increase the number of cards dealt by one card. Play continues until the 8th round when each player is dealt 10 cards.
9. At the end of the game the player with the highest score wins!

Scoring

Each card is worth the point value shown. Add up the points for all allowable words, then subtract the points for any unused cards, but only down to zero. You can only have a negative score if you lose a challenge. Don't forget to add 10 points for any awarded bonuses!

Challenging a Word

You can challenge any word you believe is not an allowable word.

Rules of a Challenge:

• You must challenge the word immediately after it has been played.
• The point value of the challenged word will be subtracted from the score of the player who loses the challenge.
• You cannot rearrange the cards in the challenged word.
• If the challenged player was the first to go out, play continues as if they successfully went out, even if they lose the challenge.

Solitaire Instructions

Goal: To make words out of all your cards in order to achieve a perfect score of zero.

Deal: Shuffle all cards together and deal 8 piles of 5 cards. Then deal 1 card faceup on top of each pile. Set aside the rest of the cards, they will not be used.

Play: Use some or all of the 8 faceup cards to make a word (see Allowable Words). Remove the cards that spell your word and flip over the next card so that you have 8 faceup cards again. When a pile runs out of cards, move the top card of any remaining pile into its space, so that there are 8 faceup cards again. Continue playing until there are no cards left, or no allowable words can be made. Add up the value of the remaining cards. How close to zero is your score? How many times have you successfully scored a perfect zero?