Scrabble - a word game that you have played more than once, considered one of the most popular board games in the world. One out of three American households and a half of British families have it. Do you know its history?
Source: https://www.jimnolansblog.com/2011/08/scrabble-cartoon-by-isabella-bannerman.html
It all began on Black Thursday. People who lost their jobs were looking for new sources of income. This way in 1933 an unemployed architect, Alfred Mosher Butts, invented the word game LEXIKO. The game had no board, players drew nine tiles and tried to construct words from them.
The idea for the game was born after Alfred's reading through the book “The Gold Bug”. One of the characters decoded a message by comparing symbols to letters. The author presented the frequency of letters in English words (in order of decreasing likelihood): e, a, o, i, d, h, n, r, s, t, u, y, c, f, g, l, m, w, b, k, p, q, x, z.
According to a legend, Butts determined the distribution of letters in the game after studying the first page of "The New York Times". In later years LEXIKO was refined and called CRISS CROSS WORDS. In 1948 the board was given the final shape (bonus fields) and the game name was changed to SCRABBLE. The name of the game is not accidental, scrabble means to scratch frantically. The new version of the game was a hit, after four years on the market day by day it became more and more popular.
Source: https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/a-short-history-of-scrabble/
Today, Scrabble is one of the more popular board games in the world. The board contains 255 squares with 61 premium squares. Before the game begins, players (two to four) draw one letter from the bag. The player who has a letter closest to “A” (alphabetical order), starts the game. Then the tiles return to the bag and are mixed. Players draw 7 new letters out of 100 and place them on their racks. In each round after a play player draws letters from the bag to replenish rack to seven tiles. You can only create words using the tiles that are in the official dictionary. If your word is not in the dictionary, you will lose turn. You can also use your turn to exchange any number of your tiles, not getting any points. The tiles have to form words in crossword fashion. The number of points in a given move is calculated by adding up the values of all words created in a given move. The word value is the sum of the numbers on individual tiles plus additional points obtained from placing tiles on premium word squares . If you make up a word out of all your seven tiles then you'll get an additional bonus of 50 points. The aim of the game is to get the most points possible.
Source: https://www.sport.pl/ekipa-ekstremalna/1,145941,19070486,ektremalne-scrabble.html
Scrabble has been translated into 29 languages (also into Braille) and has been sold in 121 countries. In the United States tournaments have been held since 1973. Competitive Scrabble players spend many hours each day memorizing word lists from an official Scrabble dictionary. Every year World Scrabble Championships are organized. So far the highest-scoring Scrabble word is OXYPHENBUTAZONE which Benjamin Woo used in an individual game (without an opponent) and got 1782 points!
Source: https://twitter.com/collinsdict/status/807144086977347584
1. Have you ever play Scrabble? Do you like it, what was your most expensive move?
2. Have you heard of Scrabble Championships? Would you like to participate in them?
3. What is your favorite board or computer game, do you think that board games will be replaced by computer games?
Sources:
https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/a-short-history-of-scrabble/
https://scrabble.hasbro.com/en-us/history
http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1867007,00.html
Comments
2. I haven’t heard of it and since as I stated I am not very good Scrabble player I think I wouldn’t stand a chance to any Scrabble tournament there is.
3. My favorite game is shogi. It is like chess but more strategic and less brutal since you don’t “kill” pieces, but you capture them to use later to fight for you. Board games are already replaced by computer games and there is no coming back to them.
2. I haven't heard of scrable championships but I didn't know about tetris championships too ;). I don't want to take part in them because I was never that good in scrable.
3. I don't think board games will ever replace computer games. Computer games are just more popular and easier to get and start to play. You have to spend some time to learn the rules of board games and this is what mostly stop people from getting into it. My favourite board games is chaos in the old world for now. When it comes to computer games I really enjoy call of duty modern warfare right now (new).
2. I know that there are some championships, like probably in every game. But I've never seen any of them neither on the Internet nor in real life. I wouldn't want to participate in such a competition - I prefer different activities. The recreational play from time to time with family is enough for me.
3. My favorite board game is probably Remik. At least it's the one I play the most often. I don't think board games will be replaced by computer games. Generally it's not the computer games' goal to replace board games and both of them have their targeted audition. There must be a products diversity on the market.
2. I haven't heard about it. However, if I prepared myself earlier, I think it would be an interesting challenge. I think it's always worth starting with a mini competition in a group of friends.
3. I don't play computer games and I like poker the most. I think it is unlikely that board games will be completely replaced by computer games - recently they are an increasingly popular way to spend time with household members or friends.
I played scrabble a long time ago. This is a fantastic game that offers many possibilities. Especially when we start playing it in a language other than ours, even in English. I don't remember the highest result I achieved, but the fun was always fun.
2. Have you heard of Scrabble Championships? Would you like to participate in them?
I heard, but I never planned to attend. I know that this isn't a simple game so I'm not surprised that there are championships organized in it. To be honest I never even watched the coverage of this event.
3. What is your favorite board or computer game, do you think that board games will be replaced by computer games?
Heroes of the Might and Magic III is my favorite game. I've been playing it since it was released, and before I played version II. The second one is Plants vs Zombies II, I used to play version I before. Will video games replace board games I don't know. I often play board games with my children, despite consoles, computers and tablets at home.
2. No, I have never heard about that, but I think must be quite challenging game, as you must be a walking dictionary to actually have a chance of winning. I think it can be as mentally engaging as chess or other intellectual games. I wouldn’t like to participate in them myself, as I don’t like this kind of activities
3. I hope not! There is something magical in board games and I hope it is impossible to replace them with computer version in the nearby future. There is this game called “Kolejka” that I enjoy quite much, not only because of its “gaming aspects”, but also, because my brother gets really competitive while we play and my sister-in-law and I always laugh our heads off when he gets mad at us for laughing at him :D
Yes, I have and I really like it. I like playing games with using words. But unfortunately, I don't remember what my most expensive move in Scrabble was.
2. Have you heard of Scrabble Championships? Would you like to participate in them?
Yes, I have heard about it but I don't think I am good enough to participate in them. I like play Scrabble but only to have fun with friends. Championships or other competitions are too stressful for me.
3. What is your favorite board or computer game, do you think that board games will be replaced by computer games?
My favourite board gamme is "Stworze". It's a little bit complicated and beautiful board game with Slavic vibes and really long gameplay's time. I don't think that board games will be replaced by computer games. Of course there is a lot of applications like Tabletop Simulator which are used to make boards for playing online with friends (e.g. we can play chess or some card games there or make battlefield for RPG session instead of Roll20), but traditional board games are still popular enough to survive on this world.