Re:Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'
by frosted-flakes on Thursday May 02, 2019 @05:14PM
(#19813020)
Unless you're playing competitively, the goal is also to have fun, and games are much more enjoyable when there's room to expand and you're not forced to place sub-optimal words.
The goal in Scrabble is to crush your friends and hear their lamentations as I get double words scores while blocking their potential expansions. It is not this fun thing that people keep talking about.
"Bricking" the board by packing in words next to each other to add to your score commonly happens under our variation - although non-contiguous plays are rare.
And I will still avoid opening up a triple-word square if I can - or cover up an open triple-word just to prevent my opponent from using it. Although it's worth pointing out that under our variation, triple-words - while still very valuable - aren't the end of the world since we'll be playing bingos all over the board the whole game, there's really no need to fight for pink squares.
This article is a great extension of your point here: https://meeplelikeus.co.uk/scrabble-1948/
I think that’s a sign of suboptimal play. The goal isn’t to score as many points as possible, it’s to score more points than your opponent. Opening up a line towards a triple-later or even triple-word square only is worth it if your word scores really high.
Also, there often are high-scoring moves that ‘weave’ new words inside the existing grid. An extreme example is adding the o’s in an existing grid of x’es:
(That’s one reason competitive players have to know the full sets of two- and three letter words)Even if such a move scores 20-ish points less than your points-wise optimal move, it may be the better choice.