Scrabble is one of those games that you probably have in your house and just don’t know it. In fact, your phone might come with it already downloaded. It is a cult classic, but if you play too much you could lose an “i”.
A neat aspect about the Scrabble enterprise is how many variants they offer; you could spell in any subject matter and almost every historical period. At the present moment, there is no edible version of Scrabble, but if it were to happen I would gladly eat my words.
🏆 Our Top Picks for Best Scrabble Board Games
In a hurry? Take a quick peek at the best Scrabble board games before you go.
Best Scrabble Games
Scrabble Deluxe Edition with Rotating Wooden Game Board
This Scrabble board broke out of a museum and landed on your kitchen table, ready to play, lazy susan and all. The board is open-faced, reminiscent of Jumanji’s board but way less dangerous, and with fewer elephants.
The mahogany game board has an antique touch and modernized internal storage makes every round of words seem classier than the next. The tiles keep with the wooden aesthetic, making it easier to channel your inner historian when you think up the new vernacular.
Scrabble Deluxe Edition
This deluxe edition is everything you ever needed for a quick grab-and-run wrapped into one bright Crayola blue plastic carrying case.
The materials fold up inside in a compact unit, but the easy storage design is still allocated for a rotating board for those who hate reading upside down. Spin the board a few times to catch a word your opponent has not seen and have no fear, as everything is no-slip!
Scrabble World of Harry Potter
He who must not be named should be named as it will score you about 17 points in this Wizarding World rendition of Scrabble. The gameplay rules stay the same as usual but with an added magical twist; Harry Potter cards and magical word bonuses!
Using a Harry Potter card on your turn will Deletrius (“delete” for all you muggles) the house rules, and put new actions into play. Rack up points with magical words consisting of wizard’s names, places in the wizarding world, items, spells, or potions. The cheat code is to binge the series before you challenge a rival to this variant.
Sidenote: This board is majestic!
Scrabble Travel Edition
In keeping with the classic, smooth wood-stained style, the deluxe travel edition is all that but foldable too. If you’re packing this in a bag or for a picnic, this model is superior. The closure is magnetized, and a key feature is the elevated playing area.
This is an attractive addition to the normal board, as this grid has raised tiles so your letters will be safe and secure on an uneven surface. Hidden under the board halves is a storage area for tiles and racks. And the good news is, it will not waste weight in your suitcase, it only weighs 1.5 lbs/0.5 kg.
Bananagrams
The versatility of Bananagrams makes it epic all around. The carrying case is a fabric banana!
It is fast-paced, so you will be racing against your friends and family (up to 8 players) to build your word grid and accumulate the most points. You must use all your tiles in your grid; once a player is out of tiles they yell “peel!” and you must quickly grab a new tile and find a way to rework your word grid.
An a-peeling way to make this game harder or easier is to give it a theme: movie, place, food. Play with a few glasses of wine to watch people truly scramble to make the craziest word concoctions.
Scrabble Junior
If you ever wondered how a child can spell “transmogrification” at 5 years old, Scrabble Junior is your answer. The game is designed for children 5 and up, with different variations, such as Disney, including characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse themselves!
Mattel plans to release more themed editions in the future, so keep an eye out for new artwork on the game designs, or keep it basic with the Scrabble Junior first edition.
The board is double-sided; a crossword matching game appears on one side for the beginner levels, and the opposite is a box grid-style allowing more advanced learners to try building harder words. There are no worded tile spaces, so it is an open grid for building and no competition for spaces.
Scrabble National Parks Edition
The National Parks released a special edition of Scrabble, and this game edition is not one to take for granite because a percentage of every purchase of this game goes to the National Park Foundation for environmental protection, restoration, and preservation of Mother Earth.
Plant the seed in your mind of all the flora, fauna, and animal-related vocabulary you know to out-score your opponents and rack up points quicker! Bonus points are awarded for all nature terminology played. Pack this one for camping in the woods to feel the outdoorsy vibe!
Scrabble 1949 Retro Series
We all love a timeless classic and this series takes us way back to 1949. Hop in your vintage VW Beetle, grab a milkshake from your local diner, and come home to cozy up to some RCA-colored television.
The game should be played on a red checkered tablecloth as Louis Armstrong plays in the background on an old record player, but that is just my opinion.
1949 Retro Scrabble is traditionally packaged: maroon boxing, cardboard board, wooden letter tiles, and velvet tile pouch. Ahhhh, antique gaming.
Scrabble Linen Book Vintage Edition
If you have an old library of antique books in your home, or value aesthetics with your game closet decorations — this vintage edition of Scrabble is so appealing.
The packaging of this set is a white linen vintage-style book, and all components are included inside. The board folds into more pieces than the others, allowing this to be the most compact Scrabble set on this list.
The bonus to this styling is it blends in easily for those late nights when you want to practice your word knowledge without anyone catching you, just pretend you’re reading.
Scrabble Turbo Slam
A modern take on a fan favorite comes together in Scrabble Turbo Slam. The board turned electronic and now you are in a rush! The high-speed nature of this game makes it hilarious to watch as players dash to change the word on the table as the unit whirls a turbo sound.
Be the first to slam your letter on the table, create a new word, and receive an action card. The unit will decide if you increase your card count or get a slam dunk.
Action cards keep changing the game up with Hyper Slam, You Got Slammed, Mega Slam, and Slam Dunk. Build your word up with turbo speed to grab the victory!
Wrap-Up
We hope you enjoyed our list of the best Scrabble board games! Scrabble is an absolute classic game that should be in every collection, at least in one of its many forms. Have you tried any of the Scrabble variants on this list? Drop a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!
Looking for more word games? Check out our video of the best word games below:
Lurking deep in the dungeon is an intermediate board gamer, testing her luck in Clank! When Jess isn’t writing about board games, she’s probably at a gaming cafe learning the ropes of a new game or savagely harvesting wheat in Catan. Her favorite types of games are deck-building, strategy table toppers, or social deduction thrillers like Werewolf. If you don’t see her after dark, you know why.