Challenges
A challenge is what happens at the table when someone disputes a played word. scrabbleTracker doesn’t decide which side is right — the dictionary does. It just records what happened and applies the right penalty.
How to challenge a play
In the turn log, tap the small flag (🏳️) on the row of the play you want to challenge. Pick who is challenging and what the table ruled — valid or invalid. The app updates the score accordingly and writes the result to the turn log.
What the result means
| Result | What happens | Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| Stood | Challenge failed; the word stays. | ✓ stood |
| Overturned | Challenge succeeded; the word is removed and the player forfeits their turn. The strikethrough on the word in the log marks it as overturned. |
The three penalty types
scrabbleTracker supports three challenge rule shapes; the active one is set by the ruleset the game was started with.
Points penalty (International Tournament default)
A wrong challenge costs the challenger a fixed point penalty (typically 5). Common in international club play.
Turn loss (North American Tournament, “double challenge”)
A wrong challenge forfeits the challenger’s next turn. The harshest deterrent; rare to see a frivolous challenge.
Free (Casual Standard, House Rules default)
No penalty. Anyone can challenge anything, anytime, with nothing to lose. The friendliest setting; great for kids and beginners learning the dictionary.
The active penalty type for a game is fixed at game-start and snapshotted into the game’s ruleset so historical scoring never silently re-changes.
What gets recorded
- Who challenged
- Which turn they challenged
- The result (stood / overturned)
- The point delta applied to either or both players
All of it shows in the turn log and is replayable from the History page.