James Brunot adapted the game into Scrabble and tweaked the rules somewhat, making them simpler. Although not a success at first, Scrabble allegedly gained popularity after the president of R.H. Macy’s played the game and was surprised that it wasn’t for sale in his stores. The game sold well there, and in 1952, Selchow and Righter picked up the rights to it. Since then, it has become an internationally popular game, with JW Spears picking up the international rights in 1955. 1986 saw the acquisition of Selchow and Righter by Coleco- which ended with them going bankrupt; Hasbro purchased the rights to it and Trivial Pursuit in 1989, and hence has seen different editions under both the Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers names. Hasbro has also invented multiple different variants and spin-offs of the main game, including an enhanced version called Super Scrabble. However, Hasbro's arch-rival Mattel holds the international rights, as they acquired JW Spears in 1994.
Typically played by two to four players, Scrabble involves a 15×15 playing board and 100 letter tiles (98 letters and two blanks). Each letter has a point value assigned to it: common letters such as E are only one point, while Z and Q are the highest at 10 points each. The blank tiles are wild and can be used as any letter (but are not worth any points in and of themselves). The board contains squares that double or triple the value of each word or letter.
Scrabble has also been adapted into two different game shows. First, an NBC series hosted by Chuck Woolery in the 1980s, which simplified the rules even further and set up each word with an Pun. 2011 saw the debut of Scrabble Showdown on Hasbro-owned The Hub; this version was hosted by Justin Willman utilized different mini-games (often based on some of the more arcane Hasbro-invented variants) before moving onto a final round more like the 80s series. A round of this show, Scrabble Flash, was also used in Season 1 of Family Game Night beforehand.
The documentary Word Wars follows around high-level tournament players and came out in 2004.
Scrabble provides examples of:
- Anti-Frustration Features: Digital versions of the game typically include a "shuffle" button which randomizes the order of the tiles on your rack, which can help if you're having trouble thinking of words.
- Artificial Stupidity: Playing against the computer on the hardest level is only hard because the game only uses the highest-scoring word it can muster, clobbering the human through high-score brute force. The computer, however, utterly stinks at strategy. In its effort to lay down the highest scoring words that it can, it will open up plays a human would not — like ending a word on or one space away from the edge of the board is asking for someone to use a triple word score (or two!).
- Boring, but Practical:
- The two-letter words. Learning all 101 of them (124 in the international dictionary) and knowing when to use them correctly is the first and most important step if you want to play competitively. They allow to play words parallel to words already on the board instead of having to find a spot to intersect.
- To a lesser extent, learning the shorter words that use Q but not U can help immensely if you get stuck in such a situation.
- Bowdlerize: A controversy in the '90s was the removal of offensive words, including both slurs and garden-variety swear words, from the official Scrabble dictionary; proponents argued that the words shouldn't be treated lightly, especially because Scrabble was being promoted in many schools at the time, while people who wanted to keep the words in argued that they didn't mean to offend by playing those words and that meanings are meaningless in Scrabble. Some tournament lists kept them in, but the OSPD didn't. So if you're in a tournament, check the list first; if you're playing Scrabble in the parlor, better break out that OED or make sure your opponent doesn't know about the expurgation before you put down FUCK.
- Difficult, but Awesome:
- Learning the official two-letter word list can be this, but is basically a must for anybody who wants to be competitive at this game. For instance, X can make a two-letter word with every vowel: AX
, EX, XI, OX, XU. You're welcome. - Also, getting a "bingo" (using all seven of your tiles in a single turn), which awards a 50-point bonus on top of the score for all words formed.
- Hitting two word bonuses in a single play. You need a word of at least 7 letters to reach two Double Word squares, or 8 to hit two Triple Word squares. Better still if you do the latter AND pick up the Double Letter square in between them.
- And the granddaddy of them all: making a 15-letter word to hit all three Triple Word squares along one edge of the board.
- Learning the official two-letter word list can be this, but is basically a must for anybody who wants to be competitive at this game. For instance, X can make a two-letter word with every vowel: AX
- Grid Puzzle: The goal is to arrange letters on a 15x15 grid in order to maximize the amount of points. There are tons of possible solutions to the puzzle since it all depends on the arrangement of the other tiles and where the multiplier cells are.
- Guide Dang It!: Players not as versed as others will be consulting their Scrabble dictionaries a lot to find out if "that's a real word." Words like "CWM" and "TWP", for example.
- Interface Screw: The Android Scrabble app will sometimes have the controls go beneath the advertisement at the bottom of the screen, making them impossible to use. Of course Electronic Arts doesn't seem keen on fixing this, as it means if you're not paying attention you'll be tapping the advertisement.
- Junior Variant: Scrabble Junior features a double-sided game board. One for the standard game, and one for a special crossword spelling game. It also has scoring tokens to track the player's scores.
- Literal Wild Card: In addition to tiles featuring letters, there are two blank tiles per game. These tiles have no point value, but may be substituted for any letter.
- Luck Manipulation Mechanic: Instead of playing a word, players can choose to use their turn to exchange a subset of the tiles on their rack for new ones from the bag, in hopes of getting a more favorable combination of letters.
- Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: It is, technically, perfectly legal to play words that lexically don't exist — you just have to pay the penalty (taking back your word and earning no points) if you're challenged. If you can bluff your opponents into thinking it's a real word and not challenging, you're good to go. In fact, if a word is challenged but turns out to be good after all, the challenger has to pay a penalty, traditionally, losing their turn, i.e. after challenging a Perfectly Cromulent Word they cannot play a word themselves. (This last rule holds in America but is not universal — in some places there is no penalty for an incorrect challenge, or there is a five-point penalty, which is still more lenient than losing your turn, especially if you can make a good word). This even works in tournaments. While in electronic Scrabble games, the computer typically won't let you play unapproved words, the judges at tournaments understand that this is a part of the game and will not point out that a word is invalid unless the word is challenged.note
- Perfectly Cromulent Word: Especially in championship-level games, some of the words played can get pretty obscure but are nonetheless valid.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: Digital versions of Scrabble sometimes forgo the "challenge" mechanic, since the computer can easily validate words by referring to a built-in dictionary.
- Score Multiplier: There are four types of bonus squares scattered throughout the board: double and triple letter bonuses (which multiply the score of just the letter placed on top of them) and double and triple word bonuses (which multiply the score for the entire word). These stack multiplicatively with each other.
- Scrabble Babble: Besides being the Trope Namer, Scrabble itself is also the Trope Maker in that the official rules allow for players to "challenge" opponents' words if they are believed to be fictitious or otherwise invalid (see Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught above). Averted by both game show adaptations, however.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Longer words, especially those containing rare letters, will be worth more points, though they may or may not be helpful depending on the situation.
- Spin-Off: Scrabble Jr. is a well-known children's adaptation. There's Super Scrabble, which uses a bigger board and more tiles and offers bonuses that run up to Quadruple Letter/Word. The 80s game show had its own Home Game release, with gameplay more like that of the show. And quite a few Hasbro-invented variants which don't use the traditional gameboard are floating around, such as Scrabble Flash, where you use five tile-shaped devices to make words (Yahtzee and Simon also have Flash variants). Even fellow Hasbro word game Boggle has recently been put under the Scrabble range.
- Strategy Game: Many players love this aspect — you have to strategize with just what's on the board and what's in your tray. For most casual Scrabble players the game is "let's make the best words we can", but the step to serious Scrabble is made when a player starts incorporating strategy: using a lower scoring word to block other players from accessing the Score Multiplier squares, etc.
- Technician vs. Performer: There are both types of players. A Technician is more interested in strategy and will put down whatever they see as the best scoring option even if it's boring, whereas a Performer is more interested in words and will take the risk on a play that's stylish, new or personally meaningful. Scrabble documentaries like Word Freak and Word Wars discuss both playing styles, although at very high levels even the Performers have to have good technical skills.
- Writing Around Trademarks: In areas where Hasbro doesn't hold rights to Scrabble, some of the spin-offs are released under other names — e.g. Scrabble Flash became Boggle Flash.
