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How to Play Erudit

A complete guide: letter tiles and their value, laying words crossword-style, premium squares and scoring. Controls on muta.pro and tips for beginners.

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In brief

Goal
Score more points with words
Players
2–4
Game
20–40 min
Difficulty
Medium
Genre
Words

Goal of the game

Erudit is a board game of vocabulary. Players lay words from letter tiles onto the board, as in a crossword, and earn points. The goal is to score the most points by the time the letters run out. Points depend both on the value of the letters themselves and on the premium squares the tiles land on. What matters is not only a rich vocabulary, but also the skill of landing profitably on bonuses.

Setup

Each player draws seven random tiles from the bag; each shows its value in points — rare letters cost more. The first word is laid through the central square ★ (which doubles the first word). On the left you see the list of players with their scores and how many letters are left in the bag; on the right — whose turn it is and the game feed.

A player's turn

Pick a tile

Click a letter on your rack — it gets a gold outline. That is how you take a tile to place it on the board.

Place it on the board

Click an empty square — the selected tile lands there. Changed your mind? Click a tile you already placed and it returns to your rack.

Form a word

All the tiles of a turn must sit in one line — horizontally or vertically — and spell a word. Except on the first move, the word must connect to letters already on the board.

Catch the bonuses

Premium squares multiply points: ×2 and ×3 per letter, ×2 and ×3 for the whole word. The rack header shows the “Word of the turn” with its score, which updates as you lay tiles.

Confirm and draw

Press “✓ Confirm word” — the points are added and you draw tiles from the bag back up to seven. The turn passes to the next player.

Scoring

A word's score is the sum of the letter values, multiplied by the premium squares. Letter multipliers (×2, ×3) apply to a specific tile, word multipliers (×2, ×3) — to the whole sum. Bonuses trigger only on tiles placed for the first time. If you lay all seven tiles in one turn, an extra +15 points is awarded on top. The game runs until the letters run out; the player with the highest score wins.

Controls on muta.pro

🔤
Select and place
A click on a letter in your rack selects it, a click on an empty square places it. Clicking a tile again returns it.
“✓ Confirm word”
Ends the turn: awards points for the word you laid and refills your rack up to seven tiles.
🔀
“🔀 Shuffle” · “↺ Reset turn”
Shuffles the tiles on your rack or takes all letters placed this turn back off the board.
“⏭ Skip”
Passes the turn without laying tiles if no suitable word was found. Below the board is the legend of premium squares.

Tips for beginners

Aim for the bonuses

Try to cover ×3 squares with pricey letters, and “×2 word” squares with long words.

Play short but valuable

Sometimes a short word on a premium square brings more than a long one on an empty spot.

Build two words at once

By attaching to letters on the board, you can form several words in one turn — the points add up.

Save the rare letters

Lay pricey tiles on multipliers, not just anywhere — that is how they reveal their value.

Strategy: where the points are born

In Erudit, the game is won not by the one who knows more words, but by the one who squeezes the most points out of every tile. Victory comes from three things: landing on multipliers, working with pricey letters, and controlling which handy squares you leave for your opponent.

A pricey letter on a letter multiplier

Place F, H, Ts, Sh, Shch on “×3 letter” or “×2 letter” squares. An eight on ×3 becomes 24 points — that is more than some short words in full.

A long word on a word multiplier

“×2 word” and “×3 word” squares multiply the whole sum. Run long words through them: even cheap letters add up when there are six or seven of them.

Keep your hand balanced

Leave a mix of vowels and consonants on the rack. Five consonants in a row lock you up: you'll have nothing to lay a word with, and the turn is wasted.

К
Н
И
Г
А

The last tile lands on a “×2 word” square (gold) — the whole word sum is doubled, not a single letter.

Move tactics: crossings and double words

Every new tile on the board touches neighboring letters. An experienced player forms not one but several words at once in a single turn — and the points add up. This is the main source of big moves after the opening.

Build in parallel

Set a word right up against an existing row so that every pair of touching letters is also a word. One move — several scores.

Run through occupied letters

Crossing another letter doesn't spend a tile of yours, but earns points for the whole word. Look for a letter on the board to attach a prefix or ending to.

Lay all seven — get +15

A “bingo” of all seven tiles gives a +15 bonus on top. For it, it's worth hoarding a handy hand even one turn longer.

Д
О
С
О
К
Т
О

The vertical “СОК” is attached to the horizontal “КТО” — the shared letter О (gold) earns points for both words.

Variants and modes

Classic Erudit is a 15×15 board and a Russian letter set. But the rules are flexible: the number of players and the agreements about words strongly affect both the pace and the depth of the game.

A duel for two

The sharpest format: there are many available squares and both players quickly reach every bonus. The game turns into a fight over the same multipliers.

A group of 3–4 players

The board fills up faster, the bonus squares are taken earlier. Value your early moves — by the finish there are almost no free multipliers left.

A dictionary agreement

Agree in advance: only common nouns in base form, no abbreviations or proper names. Check a disputed word against a dictionary before confirming the move.

Playing a bot

Against a bot, practice attachments and hunting for multipliers without rushing — there's no time pressure, you can calmly weigh the options.

Your own pace

Without a timer, a game is a puzzle for the maximum points. With a time limit, intuition and pre-prepared word templates kick in.

Common mistakes

Beginners lose points not from not knowing words, but on the little things of positional play. Let's break down the most expensive slips — they are easy to remove, and the score noticeably grows.

  1. Wasting a pricey letter. An F or H on an ordinary square is 5–10 lost points. Wait, or lead it toward a multiplier.
  2. Handing your opponent bonuses. By laying a word right next to a “×3 word” square, you open it up to your rival. Watch what you leave nearby.
  3. Chasing length without multipliers. A long word on an empty spot is often cheaper than a short one on ×3. Count the points, not the letters.
  4. Locking your own hand. Dumping all your vowels in one turn leaves a heap of consonants — the next turn risks going to a skip.
  5. Forgetting the center in the opening. The first word must run through ★ and be doubled. Put a pricier word there, not the first one that comes to hand.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the first word go?
The first word must run through the central square ★, which doubles its value.
How do premium squares work?
They multiply points: ×2 and ×3 for a single letter, ×2 and ×3 for the whole word. The bonus applies only to tiles placed for the first time.
What do you get for laying all seven tiles?
Using all seven tiles in one turn earns an extra bonus of +15 points.
When does the game end?
When the bag is empty and someone has laid down all their tiles. The player with the most points wins.
How many points are the priciest letters worth?
The costliest are the rare consonants — F, H, Ts, Ch, Sh, Shch and the hard sign. It pays to place them on “×2 letter” and “×3 letter” squares, where the tile's value is multiplied.
Can words be placed in their base form and in different cases?
Usually common nouns in the nominative singular count, as well as other parts of speech in their dictionary form. Case forms, conjugations, proper names and abbreviations are customarily not allowed — agree on this before the game.
What should I do if I can't form a word?
Press “⏭ Skip” and pass the turn without laying tiles. Sometimes it is better to skip one turn and wait for a handy letter than to play a weak word and open a bonus to your opponent.
Does a square's multiplier still count if someone else's letter lands on it?
No. A premium square triggers only on the turn a tile is first placed on it. Later, when new words run through that letter, the bonus is no longer awarded.
Should I play a long word or hoard tiles?
If your hand lets you lay all seven tiles at once, hoarding is worth it: the +15 “bingo” bonus often outweighs a couple of small moves. But don't hold tiles too long — your opponent will grab the multipliers you need.
How is a turn scored when several words form at once?
Points are counted for every new word that appeared on the board this turn, including short words from crossings. Square multipliers apply to each word that runs through them.
Ready for a game?
Create a room, invite a friend by code, or play against a bot.

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