Photo showing Scrabble Trickster by Mattel

I received Scrabble Trickster back before Christmas and I feel so guilty for not reviewing it sooner. (I am so sorry Mattel).  I absolutely love the Original Scrabble and me, my sister and my best friend have always played it during the holidays for many, many years.  After I had my daughter 20 months ago I never seem to find time to play many board games which is such a shame as I think there is nothing as much fun as a good game of Scrabble!

Photo showing Scrabble Trickster by Mattel

The basic game play in  Scrabble Trickster is the same as in Original Scrabble. You have 7 tiles each and you have to make words and then your score depends on whereabouts you place them on the board.  The only difference is that the Scrabble Trickster board has the addition of ‘Trick’ squares and ‘Trick Cards’. If you place a word on the board and it crosses a ‘Trick’ square then you get to pick up a Trick Card. You can only hold 3 trick cards at any given time and you can use them one by one or all together. If you use all 3 together you get a bonus 10 points too.  The trick cards allow you to alter the usual ‘Scrabble Rules’. Each trick card is different and alters the Scrabble rules for one turn only.



Photo showing Scrabble Trickster by Mattel





Photo showing Scrabble Trickster by Mattel



• Add 10 points to your score. Points are added before doubling or tripling a word score.
• Blank is worth 5 points (At last!- It always upsets me I never score any points on a blank tile)
• Cancel another player’s card.
• Double word score
• Exchange racks, tiles only, with another player before taking your turn. ( This is the card that you just HAVE to use when you see your opponent plotting their next big move…then wham…sorry about that! I’ll have all your tiles! They’ll sulk for at least 2 turns.)
• Exchange any number of your tiles for new ones from the tile bag AND still play a word. (I’d always wished I could do that.)
• Look at another player’s rack of tiles.
• Make a player lose their turn This card must be played at the beginning of the opponent’s turn.( You just have to play this card when you see your opponent about to lay down a really long word on a triple word score space. as with the Exchange racks card – they will sulk for ages.)
• One tile usually worth 1 point is worth 10 points. This change in point value applies to this turn only. (This could come in useful if you are about to lay a word containing a 1 point letter on a triple word score space)
• Play a proper noun. a proper noun is a word that is usually capitalised. – This can even include Brand Names (It would great if you can play a brand name. I’m sure it would come in useful for words containing ‘z’. You could play ‘Tizer’ for example.)
• Play more than word during your turn. If you use all 7 letters on your rack, you do NOT score a 50 point bonus. (This is a good card to use towards the end of your game as you could try and use all your tiles up to finish the game and win)
• Score a previously used premium space. (Good card to get your more points)
• Spell a word ANYWHERE on the board – you can start a new word on any space on the board – you do not need to use a letter already on the board. (I love this card as it gives you the opportunity to head straight for the triple word score space! Yippee!)
• Spell a word backwards. (Very useful to fit a high scoring word on to the board. Say for example you had the word  ‘Quartzy’ at 82 points but there was no ‘Q’ to connect to but there was a ‘Y’. You could play it backwards with this card and spell Yztrauq. Then you would be pleased wouldn’t you. 🙂 By the way…I did have to use Google to find out that Quartzy is one of the highest scoring Scrabble words…I don’t want you thinking I’m that clever I thought of it myself.)
• Spell one of the following words for quadruple the points shown on the tiles: AT,AS,IS,OR,TO,AN,IT,SO (This would be useful towards the end of the game to gain points)
• Steal one tile from any opponent’s rack without looking. Opponent does not draw back to 7 tiles until the end of their next turn. (Good for ruining your opponent’s chances of laying down a high scoring word. Very useful card to be used just after your opponent has told you that they are going to lay down a 7 letter word in a minute! HeeHeeHee!)
• Triple word score (Great card to gain extra points)
• Turn one of your tiles face down and use it as a blank. The blank still has no value. (Invaluable card to use in your quest to form a 7 letter word)

and last but not least….

•  Steal your opponent’s last score. You may still play a word on your turn. (This is by far my favourite Trick card as you get the double whammy of more points and the pleasure of nicking your opponents last score and upsetting them. Sorry for sounding mean…but I am a very competitive Scrabble player.:-)  I play to win!)

On the Scrabble Trickster website you can even make up your own Trick cards and print them off to use in your games with friends and family….that would make for loads of fun!


Photo showing  the ‘Trick’ cards from Scrabble Trickster by Mattel. (The ones in the photo are in German not English though – read review post for more info.).







Photo showing the tile bag from Scrabble Trickster by Mattel



Photo showing the tiles from Scrabble Trickster by Mattel

Photo showing the tile racks from Scrabble Trickster by Mattel

Mattel also kindly sent me Pictionary Family Edition to review and we all loved that too! You can read about that in my next review.

If you would like to buy Scrabble Trickster you can buy it from many different stockists online and on the high street. One shop I found that sells it is Toys R Us and they sell it for £20.99 plus £4.95 Postage. You may be able to find it cheaper with a quick Google search though.