boardgamevideo
  • Trending
  • Videos
  • Games
  • Channels
  • Lists
  • Shorts

Explore

  • Home
  • Trending
  • Channels
  • Videos
  • Games
  • Lists
  • Shorts
  • Conventions
  • Year in Review

Browse by type

  • Reviews
  • How to play
  • Playthroughs
  • Unboxing
  • Top 100 lists
  • Featured videos
  • Trending this week
  • Rising games
  • Games with fresh review perspectives

Information

  • About
  • Contact
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022–2026 BoardGameVideo.com

Powered by BGG
  • Videos
  • Trending
  • Shorts
  • Channels
  • Games
  • Lists
Aug 21, 2015·Playthrough·05:57·39231·Watch on YouTube

The Unusual Origin of Scrabble

Today I Found Out

Today I Found Out

Watch “The Unusual Origin of Scrabble,” a gameplay video for Scrabble from Today I Found Out on BoardGameVideo.

Description provided by Today I Found Out on YouTube:

→Subscribe for new videos every day! http://bit.ly/todayifoundoutsubscribe →Why Do Superheroes Wear Their Underwear on the Outside?: http://bit.ly/1Ow7J0K Never run out of things to say at the water cooler with TodayIFoundOut! Brand new videos 7 days a week! More from Today I Found Out: The Inventor of the PEZ Confectionery Created One of the World's First Ready-Made Cake Mixes http://bit.ly/1MpLLOO Why Do We Toast Drinks? http://bit.ly/1VzF6od In this video: There aren’t a great number of positive things that can be attributed to the Great Depression. However, Scrabble is a game that probably wouldn’t have existed without it. It all began with an unemployed architect by the name of Alfred Mosher Butts of Poughkeepsie, New York. Thanks to his excessive free time while unemployed, he decided to invent a word game that was inspired by anagrams and crossword puzzles. Want the text version? http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/03/great-depression-scrabble/ Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scrabble_game_in_progress.jpg http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/info/history.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrabble http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/en_US/story.cfm http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1867007,00.html http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/scrabble.htm http://www.wordplays.com/help/history-of-scrabble/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3776732/Scrabble-60-facts-for-its-60th-birthday.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Mosher_Butts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexiko http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/472957/Poughkeepsie Image credit: https://localscrabble.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/scrabble.jpg http://thebiggamehunter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Criss-Cross-Words-Alfred-Butts.jpg http://blogs-images.forbes.com/davidewalt/files/2011/07/alfred-butts-scrabble.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Gra_Scrabble.JPG https://www.flickr.com/photos/atbaker/294083173 http://www.glguitars.com/imagedownloads/people/Leo_Lab_F100.jpg http://www.nsmbl.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/alfrednewgame-403x560.jpg https://pocketbookuk.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/alfredbuttsothergame.jpg http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/gameshows/images/9/99/Scrabble.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131115083713 http://s3.amazonaws.com/bundlr-app-production/content_images/images/large/519b8212312aec0002006d11/Scrabble-Vintage-Edition-2.jpeg?1369145874

Explore more Videos

  1. world scrabble championship 20093:09
    world scrabble championship 2009
    Dan Ramly
  2. Scrabble RARE FIRST Editions Toy Review by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel3:41
    Scrabble RARE FIRST Editions Toy Review by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel
    TheToyChannel
  3. Top 10 Games - Essen Spiel 20261:33:13
    Top 10 Games - Essen Spiel 2026
    Gaming Rules!
  4. RANKING ESSEN SPIEL GAMES!!2:24:13
    RANKING ESSEN SPIEL GAMES!!
    Rahdo Runs Through
  5. Pick 6... Games Like Scrabble8:41
    Pick 6... Games Like Scrabble
    The Dice Tower
  6. Scrabble 1990 Commercial0:30
    Scrabble 1990 Commercial
    MYSATURDAYM0RNINGS
  7. Scrabble - A Board with Life Bit1:44
    Scrabble - A Board with Life Bit
    MoonratMedia
  8. Scrabble quick hit22:07
    Scrabble quick hit
    calandale
  9. Scrabble by PES0:35
    Scrabble by PES
    PES
  10. Greenwood Review: Tell Me Sweet Little Lies24:51
    Greenwood Review: Tell Me Sweet Little Lies
    The Dice Tower
  11. Kalan Porter - Hurray (I'm Bringing Scrabble Back)4:08
    Kalan Porter - Hurray (I'm Bringing Scrabble Back)
    kalanporterofficial
  12. The 4 Squares Review - Scrabble21:52
    The 4 Squares Review - Scrabble
    The Dice Tower
Scrabble

Scrabble

1948·Alfred Mosher Butts

Videos
55
Creators
50

Some how-to-play and reviews. Scrabble is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 10 reviews, 11 how-to-play guides, 7 recorded sessions, 1 unboxings, and 26 other videos.

2 - 4 players
90 min
Medium weight: Teach it in one sitting

About Scrabble, from BoardGameGeek:

In this classic word game, players use their seven drawn letter-tiles to form words on the gameboard. 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. Skip-a-cross was licensed by Selchow & Righter and manufactured by Cadaco. Both games have identical rules but Skip-a-cross has tiles and racks made of cardboard instead of wood. The game was also published because not enough Scrabble games were manufactured to meet the demand.

Designer

Alfred Mosher Butts

Artist

C. Leslie Crandall

Categories

Word Game

Mechanics

End Game BonusesHand Management
View on BoardGameGeek ›
Scrabble

Explore more videos

world scrabble championship 2009Playthrough3:09

world scrabble championship 2009

Dan Ramly

Dan Ramly

Scrabble RARE FIRST Editions Toy Review by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannelHow to play3:41

Scrabble RARE FIRST Editions Toy Review by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel

TheToyChannel

TheToyChannel

Top 10 Games - Essen Spiel 2026Collection1:33:13

Top 10 Games - Essen Spiel 2026

Gaming Rules!

Gaming Rules!

RANKING ESSEN SPIEL GAMES!!Collection2:24:13

RANKING ESSEN SPIEL GAMES!!

Rahdo Runs Through

Rahdo Runs Through

Pick 6... Games Like ScrabbleReview8:41

Pick 6... Games Like Scrabble

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Scrabble 1990 Commercial0:30

Scrabble 1990 Commercial

MYSATURDAYM0RNINGS

MYSATURDAYM0RNINGS

Scrabble - A Board with Life BitHumor1:44

Scrabble - A Board with Life Bit

MoonratMedia

MoonratMedia

Scrabble quick hitReview22:07

Scrabble quick hit

calandale

calandale

Scrabble by PESHumor0:35

Scrabble by PES

PES

PES

Greenwood Review: Tell Me Sweet Little LiesReview24:51

Greenwood Review: Tell Me Sweet Little Lies

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Kalan Porter - Hurray (I'm Bringing Scrabble Back)Humor4:08

Kalan Porter - Hurray (I'm Bringing Scrabble Back)

kalanporterofficial

kalanporterofficial

The 4 Squares Review - ScrabbleReview21:52

The 4 Squares Review - Scrabble

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Who Really Invented Monopoly?11:10

Who Really Invented Monopoly?

Today I Found Out

Today I Found Out

Six Quick Game Reviews - with Tom VaselReview26:04

Six Quick Game Reviews - with Tom Vasel

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Robin Pollock Daniel - Colbert Report - SCRABBLE DictionaryHumor4:48

Robin Pollock Daniel - Colbert Report - SCRABBLE Dictionary

Reese Daniel

Reese Daniel

9 Games Better Than Scrabble - with Tom VaselReview6:16

9 Games Better Than Scrabble - with Tom Vasel

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

More Scrabble videos

Scrabble | How to Play | BoardgameHow to play4:14

Scrabble | How to Play | Boardgame

Fictional Focus

Fictional Focus

Scrabble the Classic Board GameHumor0:48

Scrabble the Classic Board Game

Board to Learn

Board to Learn

Which Scrabble Reigns Supreme? - 1953 Selright vs. 2021 Hasbro Edition Retro Board Game ReviewReview32:52

Which Scrabble Reigns Supreme? - 1953 Selright vs. 2021 Hasbro Edition Retro Board Game Review

Old Crappy Couch

Old Crappy Couch

Pick 6... Games Like ScrabbleReview8:41

Pick 6... Games Like Scrabble

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Can 4 of us Beat A Scrabble Champion?Playthrough23:44

Can 4 of us Beat A Scrabble Champion?

The Try Guys

The Try Guys

How to play Scrabble (2023 rules)How to play5:15

How to play Scrabble (2023 rules)

Triple S Games

Triple S Games

Ep 319: Super Scrabble Board Game Review (Winning Moves 2002)Review5:22

Ep 319: Super Scrabble Board Game Review (Winning Moves 2002)

Board Game Museum

Board Game Museum

That time when Scrabble was banned!0:48

That time when Scrabble was banned!

Gamers Closet

Gamers Closet

The Highest-Scoring Move in Scrabble0:58

The Highest-Scoring Move in Scrabble

Vsauce

Vsauce

Scrabble de HasbroHow to play8:04

Scrabble de Hasbro

El Doc Logan

El Doc Logan

SENSATION bei der Scrabble Night? Lisa, Fabian, Lars & Tobi kämpfen um den SiegPlaythrough3:23:53

SENSATION bei der Scrabble Night? Lisa, Fabian, Lars & Tobi kämpfen um den Sieg

Rocket Beans TV

Rocket Beans TV

Listen To The Rules Of ScrabbleHow to play5:59

Listen To The Rules Of Scrabble

Bower's Game Corner

Bower's Game Corner

Scrabble RARE FIRST Editions Toy Review by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel3:41

Scrabble RARE FIRST Editions Toy Review by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel

TheToyChannel

TheToyChannel

Scrabble- How to Play12:04

Scrabble- How to Play

Skip the Rulebook

Skip the Rulebook

How Modern Language Breaks Scrabble | Game/Show | PBS Digital Studios6:42

How Modern Language Breaks Scrabble | Game/Show | PBS Digital Studios

PBS Game/Show

PBS Game/Show

Scrabble To Go by Winning Moves0:34

Scrabble To Go by Winning Moves

Winning Moves Games

Winning Moves Games

How To Play - Episode 4 - Scrabble7:47

How To Play - Episode 4 - Scrabble

Shawn Padraic Murphy

Shawn Padraic Murphy

How to play Scrabble (2023 rules)5:15

How to play Scrabble (2023 rules)

Triple S Games

Triple S Games

How to Play Scrabble in 3 Minutes (Scrabble Boardgame Rules)3:30

How to Play Scrabble in 3 Minutes (Scrabble Boardgame Rules)

Tabletop Duo

Tabletop Duo

9 Games Better Than Scrabble - with Tom Vasel6:16

9 Games Better Than Scrabble - with Tom Vasel

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

The 4 Squares Review - Scrabble21:52

The 4 Squares Review - Scrabble

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Scrabble quick hit22:07

Scrabble quick hit

calandale

calandale

Pick 6... Games Like Scrabble8:41

Pick 6... Games Like Scrabble

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Is Scrabble... Actually Good?30:42

Is Scrabble... Actually Good?

No Rolls Barred

No Rolls Barred

Ep 319: Super Scrabble Board Game Review (Winning Moves 2002)5:22

Ep 319: Super Scrabble Board Game Review (Winning Moves 2002)

Board Game Museum

Board Game Museum

Teaching With Board Games - Scrabble13:23

Teaching With Board Games - Scrabble

Teaching With Board Games

Teaching With Board Games

Games to Try if You Like Scrabble3:52

Games to Try if You Like Scrabble

eNVy Board Gaming

eNVy Board Gaming

Unboxing Intelect4:16

Unboxing Intelect

world scrabble championship 20093:09

world scrabble championship 2009

Dan Ramly

Dan Ramly

Can 4 of us Beat A Scrabble Champion?23:44

Can 4 of us Beat A Scrabble Champion?

The Try Guys

The Try Guys

Game Night: Scrabble50:04

Game Night: Scrabble

KevOnStage Studios

KevOnStage Studios

Full game of Scrabble / Wordsmithing / Strategy ideas / Family Game1:28:10

Full game of Scrabble / Wordsmithing / Strategy ideas / Family Game

Legendary Tactics

Legendary Tactics

Wer wird unser Scrabble Champion? - Die Rocket Beans Scrabble Night | Du bist!3:06:20

Wer wird unser Scrabble Champion? - Die Rocket Beans Scrabble Night | Du bist!

Rocket Beans TV

Rocket Beans TV

SENSATION bei der Scrabble Night? Lisa, Fabian, Lars & Tobi kämpfen um den Sieg3:23:53

SENSATION bei der Scrabble Night? Lisa, Fabian, Lars & Tobi kämpfen um den Sieg

Rocket Beans TV

Rocket Beans TV

Unboxing Rápido Scrabble Silver Line1:22

Unboxing Rápido Scrabble Silver Line

Leo, el jugador

Leo, el jugador

World Scrabble Championships 20111:52

World Scrabble Championships 2011

OgilvyBroadcast

OgilvyBroadcast

Scrabble - A Board with Life Bit1:44

Scrabble - A Board with Life Bit

MoonratMedia

MoonratMedia

Kalan Porter - Hurray (I'm Bringing Scrabble Back)4:08

Kalan Porter - Hurray (I'm Bringing Scrabble Back)

kalanporterofficial

kalanporterofficial

Scrabble by PES0:35

Scrabble by PES

PES

PES

Robin Pollock Daniel - Colbert Report - SCRABBLE Dictionary4:48

Robin Pollock Daniel - Colbert Report - SCRABBLE Dictionary

Reese Daniel

Reese Daniel

Top 5 Games better than Scrabble with Coach Troy9:56

Top 5 Games better than Scrabble with Coach Troy

Coach Troy

Coach Troy

Craziest by Liz Dubelman8:41

Craziest by Liz Dubelman

vidlit

vidlit

MADtv Scrabble with Bill Cosby and Little Richard2:46

MADtv Scrabble with Bill Cosby and Little Richard

My-Junk Shared

My-Junk Shared

SCRUBBLE - Scrabble Variant - House Ruled (Ep. 1)25:51

SCRUBBLE - Scrabble Variant - House Ruled (Ep. 1)

Board Crazy

Board Crazy

Scrabble the Classic Board Game0:48

Scrabble the Classic Board Game

Board to Learn

Board to Learn

Related Content

More Scrabble videos
game

More Scrabble videos

channel

More videos from this channel

Home
Videos
The Unusual Origin of Scrabble