At least in Europe, Scrabble is changing a bit.
Mattel has announced a double-sided board that features both the classic word-building game and Scrabble Together, a new rendition designed to be more accessible “for those who are intimidated by word games.”
This new version is currently available across Europe and is touted to be more team-oriented and faster to play. Mattel said Tuesday that the update marks the first major change to Scrabble's board of directors in more than 75 years.
“We want to ensure that our games remain inclusive for all players,” Ray Adler, Mattel's vice president and global head of games, said in a prepared statement. said you can still choose between the classic game and the new version.
In an effort to expand its reach, toy companies have introduced new ways to play board games, from “junior” versions made for younger children to multiple instruction sets that players can choose from to increase difficulty. Alternative or simplified methods have been developed over the years.
Scrabble Together is marketed to players of all ages. Jim Silver, toy industry expert and CEO of review site TTPM, said double-sided boards are a smart approach because players can switch from one mode to another as they wish. said.
Mattel's announcement was also accompanied by research that offered a glimpse into the way British consumers have approached the classic Scrabble to date. Opinion Matters, a London-based market research company, found that 75% of British adults aged 25 to 34 said that when they play a board and tile game, they want to know if the word is real. I found that I had searched for it. And almost half (49%) reported trying to create a new word in hopes of winning.
It remains to be seen whether the new version will one day be rolled out beyond Europe. El Segundo, California-based Mattel owns the rights to Scrabble in most of the world, but Hasbro, for example, licenses the game in the United States.
“Mattel and Hasbro have worked separately to develop different versions of Scrabble each year. As a result, some versions are only available in certain countries, making them “uninteresting” to die-hard fans of the game. Silver added that this creates “power relations.”
A spokesperson for Hasbro, based in Pawtucket, R.I., confirmed to The Associated Press via email Tuesday that the company currently has no plans for updates in the U.S., but that the brand is “playing Scrabble.” “I love the idea of different ways to play and continue to attract new players to the game from all over the world.” ”
Scrabble's origins date back to 1931, when American architect Alfred Mosher Butts invented the game's predecessor. According to a Mattel fact sheet, Scrabble's original name was “Lexico,” and before officially acquiring the Scrabble title and trademark in 1948, Butts' works included “Chris Crossword,” “It,” ” Also known as “Alf”.
Scrabble is currently written in 28 different languages. According to Mattel, more than 165 million games have been sold in 120 countries around the world since 1948, with an average of 1.5 million games sold each year worldwide.
Beyond Scrabble's decades-long fan base, other word games have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, including Bananagrams and the online guessing game Wordle.
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