Classic Vs Deluxe. Review on Scrabble

We have had the game Scrabblein our home ever since I recall. It's a board game that has never lost its appeal  and I and now our children who play the game often when they come over the house.

The Classic Game

We have had this basic (Classic) Scrabble game for years and in the last ten years, maybe more, added the Deluxe form of the game. More on it in a bit. The Classic game of Scrabble that became a world wide phenomenon and has tournaments in many countries annually is easy for adults and mature children to play.

The game is good for two to four players. It comes with a basic board and 100 wooden letter tiles that are about 3/4" square in size. Four wooden racks for setting the tiles are in the box too. A storage bag that keeps the tiles out of sight and available as the game progresses is the last piece of the game besides instructions that are easy to follow.

The game's board has marking of a grid board with small squares. Some of the open squares have special value as with Double Word Score, Triple Word Score and Double Letter Value. The colours of those special boxes make them easily visible.

Each player starts the game with seven letters that are used to make words in a crossword type style using other letters already on the board. The letters are replenished back to seven after using the tiles on each turn. Each letter has point value. Some like Q and Z have greater value (10) while vowels and most letters are worth but one point. There are also two blank tiles that can be used as any letter to make a word but do not have point value.

The idea is to strategize making words out of the 7 letters the player has and also maximizing the letter values on the tile and also placing them where they gain most value on the board building on letters already in play. There is also a defensive strategy of not leaving open or setting up another player to do the same.

I happen to enjoy the game best one-on-one. The game moves faster and there's less luck in having or not having one player that sets up moves for another player. If you play the game, you would know what that means. My wife and I play Scrabble throughout the year sporadically but play it daily every  season throughout the holiday week and beyond. We light the fire, have a drink or two and play a relaxing game while checking out new gifts and sharing the holidays events.

Over the years though we found we wanted a step up from the Classic game. As good as it is as a game it has some problems. One is that we do not always finish a game at one sitting. The game board, if jostled, moves the pieces all over the place losing the form of the letters played. That's a problem. That problem was remedied when we purchased the Deluxe version.

The Deluxe one:-

I won't go into great detail here but a look at the link to it may give you much more information. The big asset of the Deluxe Scrabble is a grid that holds the letters in place. There are many other "upgrade" features too like a turntable and better finished tiles and more. I do recommend that game over the Classic however, if price is an issue, (The Deluxe can be twice the price or more) no home should be without some form of the Scrabble game that provides hours of fun, competition and a learning experience.

I suppose if I had to pick one game as my very favorite of all time, it would be Scrabble.