Will Scrabble soon be sporting new rules? Image from Flickr.

If you are a Scrabble fan, please sit down. Breathe, relax, and imagine a game board that includes a gentle mix of vowels and consonants. Relaxed? Good. Mattel has announced that the rules of Scrabble are changing — kind of. The BBC reported that the rules of Scrabble will now allow proper nouns like names and payday lender companies. However, these new rules will not apply to traditional Scrabble. The new rules of Scrabble will instead apply to a new game called Scrabble Trickster.

New Scrabble Rules – not in the U.S.

The American Scrabble Association (yes, there is one) was rightfully quite concerned when the new Scrabble Rules announcement came out. However, after a flurry of phone calls, director of the Association John Williams has confirmed that the new Scrabble Rules will not apply to the traditional game. In fact, Scrabble Trickster is not currently slated for release in the U.S. – only for England.

Mattel vs. Hasbro Scrabble Rules

In the U.S. and Canada, the rights to Scrabble are owned by Hasbro. The rules to the game have not changed in the more than 50 years since the game was first released. In England, the rights to Scrabble are owned by Mattel, which  makes everything from toy cars that practically require auto loans to board games. Mattel originally reported that it was changing the rules of Scrabble without specifying that it would be for a new version of the classic game.

Playing Scrabble with your own rules

Of course, one of the attractions of playing with a classic Scrabble board include that you do not have to follow manufacturer’s instructions. “House rules” of Scrabble include many different variations. “Wraparound” Scrabble allows words to wrap top to bottom or left to right at the edge of the board. Double-letter Scrabble combines the letters of two games into one board. Short or Long Word Scrabble specifies a minimum or maximum length of word that can be used. And yes, some players do already allow proper nouns when playing Scrabble – but all players in the game must agree.