Dabble (Nerdcube)

Dabble is the word game on Nerdcube Daily, a small site of free daily puzzles that also includes Carom, Inlay, Trio and Jumble. It takes the feel of Scrabble and squeezes it into one short solo round: everyone gets the same numbered board and the same set of letters each day, and the aim is the highest score.

A day's game lasts four turns. The board is a 9x9 grid with a star in the middle and scattered bonus squares (double and triple letter, double and triple word), and your rack holds 14 letter tiles, each with its point value. You drag letters onto the board to form a word and submit it; the first word has to cover the centre star, and every later word must connect to what is already there. Words score by their letters and any bonus squares they cover.

The twist is the end-of-game letter bonus: using 12 of your 14 letters adds 5 points, 13 adds 10, and all 14 adds 20. That makes it a trade-off between grabbing triple-word squares with big words early and leaving yourself letters that can still be placed. Your final score is turned into a star rating against thresholds for the day, and top scores for the board are shown.

It suits Scrabble and Words With Friends players who want a fixed daily challenge with no opponent and no luck of the draw, since everyone plays exactly the same tiles. Past boards are open in the archive.