What what what???? Scrabble is changing its rules? How is this possible? How can such a thing happen? What is going on in the world?
Well, it’s true. Mattel has decided that the rules for the game for the first time in 72 years…sort of.
The use of proper nouns has forever been Verboten in the tiled word game, but with a new rule book coming out (as part of a new Scrabble game, Scrabble Trickster) proper nouns, like cities and celebrities, will be allowed.
I have to say that this is not something I’m happy with. Scrabble has always been one of my favorite easy-to-play, easy-to-explain, games. I like it because you can play millions of times and never have the same game twice. Additionally, depending on your competition, you can get some great words out there. (Yes, I’m the guy who always finds a way to use “qat.”)
Now, with the allowance of proper nouns as part of the game play, there are just too many new options with little additional thought. There are just too may three and four letter names that can be used. I’m against it, and would rather see people crack open a dictionary than turn on TMZ to find the words you should be using.
