Scrabble vs. Scrabble Junior

If you're looking to purchase your next board game or are interested in knowing the differences between Scrabble and Scrabble Junior, this article is for you!

You may also enjoy reading about fun card games for kids and also some word games designed specifically for kids.

Scrabble Junior

Scrabble Junior is designed as a stepping stone for children to get into the Scrabble game universe, as the regular game can be quite challenging for younger players, given the strict rules and complex scoring systems.

Scrabble Junior has two game types, beginner and advanced, with one on either side of the board.

Scrabble Junior's Beginner Level

This game is as simple as Scrabble will get and should be suitable for small children. Designed for between two and four players, each player gets a character token of a certain color and takes seven tiles from the pile of face-down tiles in the bag. The objective is to get the most points by the time all of the tiles are used.

How to play:

• The oldest player goes first, and turns are taken clockwise.
• Players spell words based on the words on the Scrabble junior board using any two letters on any two matching letter spaces.
• Players are awarded one point per word spelled and earn two points if the word they spell matches the color of their character.
• The scores are kept by moving your character along the path in accordance with how many points you score.
• Players take two tiles at the end of their turn, ensuring each player has seven tiles so long as there are tiles available to take.

This simple style of play means that scorekeeping and point scoring is easy enough for small children to grasp, although the heavily guided gameplay may become stale quickly.

Scrabble Junior's Advanced Level

Scrabble Junior Advanced is played on the blue side of the board without any of the predetermined words. Instead, the game's rules are largely the same as regular Scrabble, with crucial differences in scoring.

Much like in regular Scrabble, players make their own words in Advanced, and words must be spelled either horizontally or vertically and must be real words. The first word must cover the center square, and each word thereafter must connect to an existing word.

Scoring is much easier in Advanced, though, with each letter of the word earning a player a single point. Players who can't make a word can exchange some or all tiles for those in the pile, ending their turn.

Regular Scrabble vs. Scrabble Junior

The trusty board game in millions of our homes, Scrabble, is a bit more difficult to get into for kids or adults who aren't too fond of words, word games or literature.

Scrabble Junior Basic is a perfect stepping stone for children who are first getting into the grooves of spelling, making words, and understanding how basic scoring systems work.

Scrabble Junior Advanced is essentially a version of Scrabble that is more focused on creating and placing longer words rather than the strategic placements of words, as all letters are worth the same number of points, and bonus tiles aren't available.

While aimed at younger audiences, Scrabble Junior Advanced can still be a fun alternative for adults, as the simple scoring makes for a less competitive, more word-focused version of the game.