Scrabble turns 60

IT’S no Xbox or PlayStation, but boardgame Scrabble has something to boast about that the other two don’t — 60 years of entertaining kids and adults. The beauty of Scrabble, says Nipan Maniar, a games expert, is that unlike computer games, all people need for a game of scrabble is a pen and paper.

What’s more, it’s a game that can involve the whole family, especially the generation not comfortable with today’s gizmos.

"One only needs a pen and paper to play Scrabble — it is that simple," the Scotsman quoted Maniar, as saying.

"Playing sophisticated computer games is not everyone’s cup of tea. It needs financial investment and a technical expertise to play the game on hi-tech devices."

"Scrabble has been popular and will remain popular due to its simplicity and learning values." Charlotte Bird, of Scrabble, said the game had "truly stood the test of time. New technology is providing fans with new ways to play and fuelling a love of the game, but we are still seeing a rise in popularity for the board game.

"Most players will confirm that there is nothing more satisfying than the sound of the tiles in the tile bag, or placing your winning word with a steady hand across the triple-word-score square."

The game was the brainchild of Alfred Mosher Butts, an architect in the United States during the Great Depression, who having lost his job in 1931, decided to explore his passion for games and words.

He came up with Lexico — a game played with letter tiles, but no board.

Though the idea didn’t catch on at first, Butts persevered, and seven years after the first game, decided to combine it with the concept of a crossword.

Four name changes followed and then came the deal with manufacturer James Brunot.

Brunot signed an agreement with Butts to produce the game, with the latter receiving a royalty for each sale.

One of the small adjustments that Brunot made was changing the name of the game to Scrabble.

Its popularity grew by work-of-mouth, until one very important man got hooked — Jack Strauss, the chairman of famous department store Macy’s.

And the rest, as they say, is history. — ANI