The Board - Lexulous Scoring
Just like in Scrabble, the board in Lexulous has a lot to do with the scoring of the game. All the same spaces apply. The star in the center, where the first play must be made, is an automatic double word score. Along with that, the colors of the spaces are the same as in normal Scrabble. White is regular. Light blue is double letter, meaning the letter you place there is worth twice it's point value. Dark blue is triple letter, turning your 4-point Bs into 12 points each. Light red, or pink, is double word; every letter in your word is doubled. Dark red, or just red, is the ever-popular triple word, which is where all the best high plays go on.
The differences between Scrabble and Lexulous in layout are obvious when you see them side by side. Lexulous uses a diamond pattern, where Scrabble instead uses an X shaped pattern. The only similarities are the locations of the triple word score tiles.
Because of the difference in layout, and the requirement that the first word be played on the star, the first play in Lexulous will not hit a double letter tile as it most likely would in a Scrabble game (it still gets double word points from the star). This leads to lower-scoring plays for the opening.
There are some differences in the tile distribution, both are included below:
Lexulous Tile Distribution:
A-8, B-2, C-2, D-3, E-11, F-2, G-2, H-2, I-8, J-1, K-1, L-3, M-2, N-5, O-7, P-2, Q-1, R-5, S-3, T-5, U-3, V-2, W-2, X-1, Y-3, Z-1, Blank-2
Scrabble Tile Distribution:
A-9, B-2, C-2, D-4, E-12, F-2, G-3, H-2, I-9, J-1, K-1, L-4, M-2, N-6, O-8, P-2, Q-1, R-6, S-4, T-6, U-4, V-2, W-2, X-1, Y-2, Z-1 and Blanks-2.