Scrabble is getting a makeover for the first time in decades – but not everyone is on board.

Mattel has unveiled a double-sided board that features both the classic word-building game and Scrabble Together, a new rendition designed to be accessible “for anyone who finds word games intimidating”.

The new version, which is available across Europe, is advertised as being more team-oriented and quicker to play.

The new game features helper cards that offer clues and to win, a player, or team, needs to complete 20 goals.

The update was the first significant change to Scrabble’s board in more than 75 years, Mattel said.

“We want to ensure the game continues to be inclusive for all players,” Mattel vice-president Ray Adler said.

Scrabble Together is marketed toward players of all ages.

Mattel’s announcement was also accompanied by a survey that offered a glimpse into some of the ways British consumers have previously tackled classic Scrabble.

British market researcher Opinion Matters found that 75 per cent of UK adults aged 25-34 have searched a word when playing the board-and-tile game to check if it’s real. And almost half (49 per cent) reported trying to make up a new word in hopes of winning.

This is the first major change to Scrabble in more than 70 years. Photo: Getty

Scrabble lovers turn on the new board

While Scrabble Together is touted as a more accessible way to play, some people seem really offended by it.

“If I had even liked Scrabble in the first place, this would make me *burn* my board in disgust!” one person said on X, but added that people should “recycle responsibly”.

Someone else joked one of the “beauties” of Scrabble was being able to “toughen up kids by bullying them for their wrong answers, bad moves and poor dice rolling”.

“How do I know that we are at the precipice?” another person said.

“They are dumbing down Scrabble …”

Perhaps some people have failed to grasp that no one is forcing them to play the updated version?

“My favourite part of this is the amount [sic] of people in the comments who seem to think they are now FORCED to play Scrabble this way, as if the original rules have been erased,” someone sensible said on X.

“For people who apparently care so much about a word game, their reading comprehension isn’t looking great.”

New Scrabble might not go global

Whether the new version will expand beyond Europe remains to be seen.

While Mattel, which is based in California, owns the rights to Scrabble around much of the world, Hasbro licenses the game in the US, for example.

“Mattel and Hasbro have worked separately to develop different versions of Scrabble every year,” Silver said.

As a result, some versions were only available in certain countries, creating a “interesting dynamic” for avid fans of the game, he said.

Scrabble’s origins date back to 1931, when American architect Alfred Mosher Butts invented the game’s forerunner.

Scrabble’s original name was Lexiko, according to Mattel. Before officially getting the Scrabble title and trademark in 1948, Butts’ creation was also called Criss-Crosswords, It and Alph.

Today, Scrabble is produced in 28 languages.

More than 165 million games have been sold in 120 countries since 1948, according to Mattel, with an average of 1.5 million games sold globally each year.