For National Scrabble Day, Scrabble GO revealed in a recent tweet that they had released an online version of Scrabble. In this version, you can connect with other Scrabble fans and improve your game with expert resources, all from your browser!
Interestingly, they’ve included a brief history behind Scrabble in their release video. In 1933, an architect named Alfred Mosher Butts invented the game that lifted the spirits of millions.
The official Scrabble website provides further details on how Alfred developed his original idea and turned it into a best-selling game across the globe, which is quite interesting if you love Scrabble or history.
Hailing from Poughkeepsie, New York, Butts had taken to analyzing popular games, defining three different categories: number games, such as dice and bingo; move games, such as chess and checkers; and word games, such as anagrams. He also noted, “…there is one thing that keeps word games from being as popular as card games: they have no score.”
Attempting to combine the thrill of chance and skill, Butts entwined the elements of anagrams and the classic crossword puzzle into a scoring word game first called LEXIKO. This was then refined during the early 1930s and 1940s to become CRISS CROSS WORDS.
The SCRABBLE game is born.
Legend has it Butts studied the front page of “The New York Times” to make his calculations for the letter distribution in the game. This skilled, cryptographic analysis of our language formed the basis of the original tile distribution, which has remained constant through almost three generations and billions of games.
Nevertheless, established game manufacturers unanimously slammed the door on Butts’ invention. It was only when Butts met James Brunot, a game-loving entrepreneur, that the concept became a commercial reality.
Together they refined the rules and design and then, most importantly, came up with the name SCRABBLE – a word defined as ‘to grasp, collect, or hold on to something’; and a word that truly captured the essence of this remarkable concept. And so, the SCRABBLE Brand Crossword Game was trademarked in 1948.
Scrabble Go also mentions how National Scrabble Day is, in fact, Albert’s birthday and is a day that the world celebrates his incredible contribution.
Scrabble.com (in the US and CA) or PlayScrabble.com is a way for fans, players, and competitors to play their favorite word game online. There is also a helpful dictionary to help you improve your gameplay and tips from experts.
Enjoy playing Scrabble online for National Scrabble Day! Be sure to check out our latest news section for more great content.
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