As with regular Scrabble your turn consists of either adding to or bisecting an existing row of tiles on the board, but in 'Scribble' on the underside of each tile are various lines corresponding to the frequency of letter distribution and their points based on how easy or difficult they are to make into a straight line.
On one turn it may be easy to connect all seven tiles to make a contiguous line and score an extra 50 points, while on other turns you may only be able to connect two of your tiles.

The lines on some tiles are straight across and easy to connect to each other. Some are crosses, while others merely angle from mid top to mid side meaning that they can be used during your turn to make your line one tile longer, or connect to an existing line, but will not let you extend your own line any farther than that.

Game play is exactly the same as scrabble and is just a variation which anyone can play regardless of the level of their vocabulary.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 09 2023

reminds me of this https://www.etsy.co...-serpentino-game-is
(except with lines instead of snakes) [pertinax, Dec 10 2023]

I can't quite figure out what you mean, so I'm bribing you with a pastry.
-- Voice, Dec 10 2023


hmmm, the letters are replaced with lines. Some are hard to use to make a contiguous line and so are worth more points than other tiles.

Anyone of any culture and almost any age could play it.
Elliot could play it with E.T.

You just try to make the longest connected line on your turn given the shapes that correspond to letters.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 10 2023


Show me.
-- minoradjustments, Dec 10 2023


Um, my computer is glitching and won't sync with my phone so I will write it down with the Scrabble letter distribution.

.

-0 pt.
2 blank tiles

1 pt.
E(12) A(9) I(9) O(8) N(6) R(6) T(6) L (4) S (4) U (4) (Total 68)
So 68 tiles will have a cross on them allowing for either horizontal or vertical progression.

2 pt.
D(4) G(3) (Total 7)
7 tiles will have a single vertical line.

3 pt.
B(2) C(2) M(2) (Total 8)
8 tiles will have 2 parallel diagonal lines angling to the right.

4 pt.
F(2) H(2) V(2) W(2) Y(2) (Total 10)
10 tiles will have 2 parallel diagonal lines angling to the left.

5 pt.
K(1) (Total 1)
1 tile will have a single diagonal line angling right.

8 pt.
J(1) X(1) (Total 2
2 tiles will have a single diagonal line angling left

10 pt.
Q(10) Z(1) (Total 2)
2 tiles will have 2 lines radiating from the centre of the tile like the hands of a clock. One tile at 3:00 and the other at 3:30.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 10 2023


How about a hybrid version for people with little kids? Same lines on the back, but they wrap around to the front a bit, leaving a "notch" on the edge of a letter.

Little ones can join up words using their tipped-over tiles, and if a "word player" hits a line-tile, they can substitute it for a blank (or the the letter on the flip side, depending on how hard you'd like the game to be.

Bun!
-- not_only_but_also, Dec 11 2023


//How about a hybrid version for people with kids.//

That was kind of the inspiration for this. While your kids are learning a logic game at an early enough age that they can understand shapes but not writing, they would also be getting introduced to the letters associated with those shapes and how they relate to their usage by osmosis...

...and if the aliens ever finally show up to save my ass from the coming shit show we will have a way to pass the time as I learn their language.

My apprentice has rigged up an old 3d printer to be a laser engraver and digs the idea of burning these patterns into the backs of the Scrabble tiles I already have and giving it a go.

I could just use a sharpie, but where's the fun in that?
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 13 2023



random, halfbakery