Scrabble is making a historic change for the first time in 75 years

Viral trends

by Brooke Steinberg

This is a game changer.

For the first time in 75 years, Mattel is making a major change to the popular board game Scrabble — and promoting a “No More Scoreing” play option.

The new launch is a dual-sided version of the popular board game – one side with the original game for those who want to stick with the long-standing traditional version, and the other side with a “less competitive” version to appeal to Generation Z players.

The flip side of the classic game, called Scrabble Together, will include help cards, use a simpler scoring system, be faster to play and allow people to play in teams.

“The makers of Scrabble have found that young people, from Generation Z, don’t like the competitive nature of Scrabble,” said Giles Brandreth, who co-hosts the linguistics podcast Something Rhymes with Purple. BBC Radio 4 Today. “They want a game where you can simply enjoy the language and the words and be together and have fun making words.”

Scrabble Together is marketed to those who find the classic game intimidating or to people who once thought “word games aren't for me.”

“Scrabble has truly stood the test of time as one of the most popular board games in history, and we want to ensure the game remains inclusive for all players,” said Ray Adler, vice president and global head of gaming at Mattel. In a statement to the newspaper. “For anyone who has ever thought, 'Word games aren't for me,' or felt a little intimidated by the classic game, Scrabble Together mode is the perfect choice.”

“Scrabble Together mode continues to celebrate the wonder of words just as the classic version does, but with exciting new collaborative and dynamic gameplay, it's even more accessible and brings people together.”

But some naysayers objected to the changes, describing them as “Scribbling for snowflakes” And “Wake up Scrabble“On X.

“No more scoring!”

So what exactly is new? In addition to the double-sided board, there are help cards that provide help, instructions, and clues and can be selected to match the player's chosen level of challenge.

In the new version, scoring is a thing of the past – now all one has to do is finish the objective and collect the objective card.

Goal cards include challenges such as: “Run a horizontal word,” “Run a three-letter word,” or “Run a word that touches the edge of the board.”

The player who completes 20 challenges is the winner, while the player who uses all of his assist cards without completing the challenge is the loser.

Once 20 goal cards are complete, the game is over – that's it.

Mattel says the new protocols and scoring system — no need to do the math every turn — will provide “shorter games.”

“The game speaks to a trend in young people who want to avoid competitive games, and instead prefer teamwork and collaboration to achieve a fun goal together,” Brett Smitheram, the current UK No. 1 and 2016 Scrabble World Champion, said in a statement.

“Word games aren't for me.”

Mattel spokesman He told CNN Scrabble Together will soon be available in Europe, but it will not be available in the United States because it does not have a license in America. Hasbro produces Scrabble in the United States and Canada.

The Post has reached out to Hasbro for comment.

Scrabble, one of the most popular board games in the world, has been around since 1938 and has added hundreds of new qualifying words to its vocabulary over the years. But, so far, the board of directors has remained the same all these years. This change comes ahead of National Scrabble Day on April 13.

“Scrabble is one of the most popular word games in the world, bringing people together on a board for over 75 years. The way we use words is constantly evolving and so is Scrabble, which is why the popular game created a second side to the board that is collaborative and faster-paced to make playing easier .

New research has found that nearly half of Scrabble players have tried to make up a new word to try to win a game, and 75% of Scrabble players aged 25-34 had to research whether the word was real or not.

“We're playing the original game, but change is inevitable,” Brandreth said.