Scrabble Day 2024: Word Games to Play on TTS!

Scrabble Day is here again, and this time we’re looking at some of the great word games you can play on Tabletop Simulator.

Has it literally taken us three years to finally suggest playing Scrabble on Scrabble Day? Maybe. You’ll just have to read on to find out 😛

The word game genre has some absolutely classic titles within its ranks. In honour of Scrabble Day, we’ve scoured the Tabletop Simulator community workshop to find some of the best that you can bring to the virtual table.

Scrabble Day

Word games not your jam? We’ve explored digital board games and board games based on video games for the previous two Scrabble Days.

Digital Board Games

Scrabble Day: Video Games That Are Board Games Too!

Tabletop Simulator (TTS)

For those that don’t know the joys of Tabletop Simulator, it is a physics-based simulator for board games. The base game includes classics such as chess, checkers, Dungeons and Dragons minis, and more. Where it really shines, however, is the community workshop.

Thanks to the extensive customisation available to you, Tabletop Simulator can be used to recreate board games. And boy, has the community delivered! Complete with scripting, game pieces, and even custom backgrounds, you can find a community workshop version of so many popular board games in a whole host of languages, too.

The word games we’re bringing to the table can all be found in the community workshop.

Tabletop Simulator Official Specifications

Component	Minimum Spec
Operating System	Windows 7 SP1+
Processor	SSE2 instruction set support
Memory	4GB RAM
Graphics	Graphics with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities
DirectX	Version 10
Storage	3GB available space

Scrabble

Yes, of course we’re suggesting Scrabble. It is probably one of the first games you think of when trying to give an example of a word game.

This classic is for between two and four players. Each player has seven letter tiles and will try to make the highest scoring word on their turn. The iconic green board has squares to boost the value of individual letters or words. The first person to play all their tiles after the bag has run out triggers end game and the highest score wins.

The mechanics are simple, but the randomised tile draw means that no two games are the same. Even who you play against can change the difficulty level, too. Let’s face it, Scrabble is a classic for a reason.

To be honest, there’s not much else to add here. I’m just trying to figure out how I can shoehorn into this article that I scored “Ouija” on a triple word score. It was my greatest Scrabble achievement, and I will tell anyone who’ll listen!

Boggle

Boggle is another classic that has made it to many a family game night. The four-by-four grid is filled with dice that feature letters instead of pips. These are given a good shake and then you have three minutes to find as many three-letter or more words as possible. While hoping that no one else spotted them, too. You score points for every unique word found, and the player with the most points after a certain number of rounds wins!

Equal parts satisfying and frustrating, Boggle is a great way to make you forget how to spell. (Just me?)

Just One

Just One involves less spelling than the last two games. This is a clue game, where one player in the group is the guesser and the rest must leave two individual words as clues to describe the secret word. If two or more clue givers provide the same word, then this cannot be given to the guesser. From the pool of clues, the guesser must correctly identify the secret word. If they do, the group wins a point, and the role of guesser passes onto the next player. Should they guess wrong, play still continues but there is one less point for the group at the end.

As a co-operative game, Just One can bring a lot of laughter to the table. Between suggesting NSFW clues and the inevitable person in the group who leaves rogue clues, this game provides an enjoyable challenge that’ll leave you feeling smug if you guess correctly or kicking yourself on a wrong answer.

Bananagrams

Now, I am convinced there is a game from the 90s called Bananagrams that involves balancing cardboard bananas on your arms. This is not that game. This Bananagrams takes classic Scrabble mechanics and says, “Yeah, but let’s do it without a board.”

You have a pool of face-down tiles in the centre of play and you take a select number of them, depending on the number of players. Each person then has to turn their tiles over and start building their own interconnecting string of words. They can be played horizontally or vertically, like in Scrabble, but they don’t garner scores. Instead, you are trying to deplete the pool of tiles from the middle until there are none left.

As you build your words, you can re-arrange letters, so long as they still legally spell something, and even dump a tricksy letter for three new tiles. If you put all letters into play, you yell, “Peel!” and everyone draws a tile from the middle. Once all the tiles are gone and yours are all in play, you yell, “Bananagrams!” to claim first place and have your spelling thoroughly scrutinised. It’s usually at this point everyone at my table giggles over all the naughty words they kept in play. (It’s how we do!)

Now, I specifically stated “legally play” earlier because Scrabble rules don’t always apply to the words you can build. After a few rounds, you can introduce themes. This usually means you have to include at least three words relating to that theme, and there are no restrictions on the one you pick, either. As such, you can end up legally playing proper nouns, which are traditionally a no-no in Scrabble.

Man Bites Dog

Man Bites Dog is a headline building game. You are dealt a hand of cards, each with a word or phrase on them. It’s up to you to turn them into a grammatically correct headline. Each card bears a score and your headline’s total is added up each round. The first player to break 500 points wins!

Certain cards score higher than others, and these are generally more difficult to work into your headline. But it’s oh-so-satisfying when you do! As with any card game, you can be dealt a duff hand but at the start of the round you have the option swap out up to three cards. Hidden amongst the headline fodder are “Exclusive” cards, which will double your score. Tasty stuff.

I feel like at this point, all I can do is leave you with the type of headline you can make:

Best PCs to Play Tabletop Simulator

As Tabletop Simulator is nearly ten years old, its specifications are relatively modest. It should be noted, though, that if you plan on playing more complex games with expansions and a thousand pieces, 4GB RAM just isn’t going to cut it. Take it from someone who killed her computer opening Stardew Valley. (Ok, that laptop had plenty wrong with it, this just didn’t help.)

At Overclockers UK, we have an extensive range of gaming PCs and laptops that are perfect for all your word game needs and more. We’ve picked out a few here, but you can explore the full collection with just the click of a button.

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