To play Dabble, two to four players pick 20 tiles each, then attempt to create a 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-letter word in five minutes. The first player to accomplish the goal receives the points from the tiles that his opponents were unable to use (incomplete words). If no one can create all five words, each player is allowed to trade in whichever tiles he does not want for new tiles and another round begins.

Players may add another element by picking a "Subject Category", such as "clothing" or "foods". If a player is able to spell a word from that category, the point value for that word is added to his total score.