Scrabble is one of the oldest board games around. The beloved word game was invented in 1938, and it’s still played today—whether online or on coffee tables. But according to Mattel, the makers of Scrabble, the game has lost its pull with younger generations.
Enter: Scrabble Together, a new version of the much-loved game that’s said to be more interactive and a little less competitive.
Scrabble Together will feature a double-sided Scrabble board. One side lets you play the original version while the other side offers a new game where players can team up. It also includes helper cards that players can use to come up with words. This version of the game is meant to be a smaller time investment, as well as less competitive. And, at the risk of sounding blasphemous, it may even be more fun.
According to Ray Adler, vice president and global head of games at Mattel, the idea behind Scrabble Together was to make the game more interactive. “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 continues to be inclusive for all players,” Adler said in a statement. “For anyone who’s ever thought ‘word games aren’t for me’ or felt a little intimidated by the classic game, Scrabble Together mode is an ideal option.”
The new game seems to come at the perfect time, too. With adults, teens, and kids alike spending so much time online, there’s a trend emerging that people are using board games to reconnect in real life. Mattel said it conducted research among British board-gamers on why the different generations break out the board games, and it found that overall, more than half (51%) of players use it as a way of unplugging from social media. Mattel’s research also found that younger people aren’t as interested in the competitive spirit of games, with 35% saying that baby boomers are the most competitive, followed by millennials at 31%, and Gen Z at 29%.
However, don’t get too excited about getting a pickup game together of Scrabble Together anytime soon. For now, it will only be available in Europe. (Mattel no longer owns the rights to manufacture Scrabble in the U.S. and Canada; Hasbro does.) But maybe you can take some consolation in new words having been added to the Scrabble dictionary—including “adorbs,” “bestie,” “bae,” and “frownie” to name some of the 500 new words. That just might give an edge to those younger generations.
