Experienced players may choose to play with one or more of the following variations.

Auctions

Instead of buying or removing tiles, a player may choose to put their letters up for auction. Starting with the player to the left and moving clockwise, each player has the opportunity to make a bid, or to pass.

The auctioning player has the final opportunity to bid (and thus can always be sure to get the letter tiles, but cannot be sure what the final price will be).

Regardless of who makes the high bid and takes the letter tiles, the money is always paid to the bank - not to the auctioning player. No money is to change hands.

Trades

As soon as all the letter tiles are drawn, 2 or more players may agree to a trade. The trade must consist of all of the letter tiles (not a few select letters). No money can be part of the trade.

Sales

The same as the Trade option (above) but money can also be exchanged.

Tile Drafts

The Leader draws letter tiles equal to the die result multiplied by the number of players in the game. Then, starting with the Leader, players draft a single tile. Once all the tiles are selected, each player pays for their set of tiles in the usual manner.

Crossword

If there is enough room this option can be an interesting change. As words are spelled and sold to the bank, they are placed on the table (rather than in the box and out of play).

Aside from the first word, new words must be built in a crossword fashion, reusing one or more of the letter tiles in the old words. Scoring includes the pips of the reused letter or letters

If multiple words are created by clever placement of the letter tiles, scoring occurs for each word. Play should start with the Leader and proceed to the left (clockwise).

Tile Limits

For easier, higher-scoring games, the 8 tile limit can be increased to 10 or waived altogether.

Themes

For fun or a greater challenge, word sets can be restricted to themes. For instance, words pertaining to sports, or just nouns, or movie titles. It's your game now. Enjoy.

Extended Play

If a longer game (or a game with more than 4 players is desired) you can choose to continue play once all the tiles have been placed into the box.

Simply put them back into the bag (excluding wild tiles) out and start over while continuing current cash totals. If you wish, you can go through the entire bag any number of times or play until a target dollar amount is reached.

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