Scrabble Deluxe - Fancy Editions of Scrabble

An overview of the various editions of Scrabble Deluxe and the many upscale or custom models of Scrabble Deluxe.

Scrabble Deluxe is an upscale edition of Scrabble produced by the Parker Brothers division of Hasbro Games. Scrabble Deluxe has the same rules and is the same game as Scrabble, but it uses deluxe materials to make for a more enjoyable Scrabble experience.

Deluxe Scrabble Game Board

The game board in Deluxe Scrabble uses a plastic turntable in place of the standard cardboard table top playing surface. This turntable uses the "Lazy Susan" concept, where the board spins around to allow the game board to face every player at the table. In the past, players would spin the entire board around, but this often caused the tiles to shift. This no longer happens with the Lazy Susan Scrabble board. When it's any given Scrabble player's turn, the player can see the game board right side up.

The gameboard also has ridged letter squares. On a standard Scrabble board, the tiles are likely to shift during play, sometimes making it hard to figure out where the tiles were originally placed. With the ridged letter cells, the letter tiles stay put on their square throughout the game.

Deluxe Letter Racks

The letter racks in Deluxe Scrabble are larger than the wooden tiles in the classic version of Scrabble. The letter tiles are made of burgundy colored wood, as opposed to the light brown wood of classic Scrabble. These racks have a list of letters at the top of the rack, along with a number indicating how many times a letter appears on the game tiles.

Other Deluxe Scrabble Equipment

The tile bag in Scrabble Deluxe is a cloth drawstring bag. In early versions of Scrabble, there was no tile bag and players generally placed the tiles face down on the kitchen table. Later versions of Scrabble came with plastic tile bags.

Custom Editions of Deluxe Scrabble

Some Scrabble players have customized Scrabble gameboards. These players have custom Scrabble boards made. One of these Deluxe Scrabble boards includes might be made of a particular hardwood instead of plastic. Other boards are made of lucite. Some players will have boards made with better spin-tables than the plastic ones made by Hasbro Games.

Common Criticisms of Deluxe Scrabble

These custom design jobs are no doubt part the criticism of Hasbro Games by serious Scrabble players in recent years. These players point to the fact that Deluxe Scrabble editions were originally more upscale.

In recent years, Hasbro and Parker Brothers have produced cheaper versions of "deluxe" Scrabble. Players complain that the spin-table on standard Scrabble Deluxe boards don't work properly.

Later editions of Scrabble Deluxe came with the plastic tile bag. Scrabble players have complained that this bag has no top on it, so that letter tiles often spill onto the table top. Cloth bags work much better, so that custom Scrabble boards often use some sort of cloth bag with drawstring.

Players often complain about the newer Scrabble Deluxe boards. Common complaints include the fact that the game board is flimsy and the turn-table doesn't work properly. Another complain is that the raised tile squares do not work properly. Scrabble Deluxe in the 1990's had a "lock in" letter tile mechanism, where letter tiles would not slip out of the tile squares whenever the tiles were placed on the board.

People point out that the less upscale versions of Scrabble Deluxe cost as much as the original Scrabble Deluxe editions.

Scrabble Deluxe Versus Classic Scrabble

Still, players who have never used the original Scrabble Deluxe boards tend to compare it favorably to the classic Scrabble set. Therefore, if you've only played with a standard set of Scrabble, you're likely to prefer the new Scrabble Deluxe versions.