Scrabble Trickster (2010)

About this game

In this twist on the classic word game, Scrabble, players use their seven drawn letter-tiles to form words on the gameboard. The twist is that now, proper names such as cities or celebrity names will now be allowed. Other twists include "playing words backwards or playing words unconnected to others on the board," Mattel said. The game is a limited edition and will not replace the original Scrabble. Just like regular Scrabble, each word laid out earns points based on the commonality of the letters used, with certain board spaces giving bonuses. But a word can only be played if it uses at least one already-played tile or adds to an already-played word. This leads to slightly tactical play, as potential words are rejected because they would give an opponent too much access to the better bonus spaces. Not all precise details are known yet as Scrabble Trickster is due out in July in the U.K. only.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 4.
• Rules load. At 2.3/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.