Scribbage is a word game played with special letter dice. It was published by E.S.Lowe and was also sold under the name of Ad-Lib. It is sometimes described informally as crossword cubes.

Despite the similarities in name, Scribbage has nothing at all in common with the card game Cribbage.

How to Play

Scribbage consists of a set of 13 letter dice and a timer. Each die face has a letter with the exception of two which show Jokers. Each face also bears a number which relates to the letter's frequency in English - much as in Scrabble.

Each player in turn throws the dice and must make as many words as possible before the timer runs out. All words must be connected in a crossword style. The two Jokers are like the blanks in Scrabble and can represent any letter.

When the time is over the player scores for the points in all words formed (letters in two intersecting words count twice). This score is then reduced by the total of the unused letters. It is thus possible - though rare - to have a negative score.

The scoring is one of the unusual features of Scribbage. Many other letter dice games do not have points assigned to specific letters.

The game can either be played for a set number of rounds or until a certain score is reached.

As far as I'm aware Scribbage is not being produced any longer. If you are looking to buy a set then you are probably best trying out spcialist games stores or online auctions.