                          A BRIEF HISTORY OF SCRABBLE

          
                                       i
                          The Scrabble (tm) Word Game

The Scrabble (tm) word game has its origins in the depths of the Great 
Depression. Alfred Butts, an unemployed architect in upstate New York, had 
time on his hands. It was 1931, and his career prospects were understandably 
dim. What better thing to do than to try to invent a new board game? 

Butts attempted to combine the elements of anagramming and crossword puzzle 
solving in his new game.  Skill would predominate, but random chance would 
also play a part.  He called it Criss Cross.

Butts made Criss Cross sets by hand for friends, who received it with 
enthusiasm, and sent samples to game manufacturers, who ignored it.  By then 
architects were again in demand, and he returned to the practice of his 
profession.

By 1948, Butts was willing to give up manufacturing rights to family friends, 
James Brunot and his wife.  The Brunots revised the game and changed its name 
to the now familiar Scrabble (tm).  The game's popularity grew steadily over 
the next few years, but it was still not a money maker.  Finally, Brunot 
managed to consign some sets to the Macy's department store in 1952.  Macy's 
featured the game and the orders began to pour in.  Brunot's small company 
could no longer keep up with the demand and he assigned marketing and 
distribution rights to the Selchow and Righter Company.

During the 1950's, Scrabble (tm) became a national mania, being featured in 
the media and becoming the family game of choice.  Its popularity continued 
on a gradual upward curve into the '60's and '70's.  The last decade has seen 
something of a decline in Scrabble's (tm) fortunes as the younger generation 
has taken to video and computer games.  Scrabble (tm) remains, however, the 
premier board game, a synergistic blend of letter pattern combinations and 
geometric abstraction. It is about building words from random letter 
combinations, bringing forth order from chaos, and it is about conquering 
time and space. It is one of those rare games that allows its players to 
take part in a magic ritual for just a little while. 

            

                                     ii
                      Computer Versions of Scrabble (tm)

The first generation of personal computers was scarcely powerful enough to 
support as complex a game as Scrabble (tm).  The Commodore Pet, TRS-80 Model 
I, OSI Challenger, and Apple II typically had between 4K and 16K of memory, 
cassette tape storage, and limited graphics.  The main programming language
available, BASIC, was hardly suitable for anything but fairly simple games. 
This was to change quickly.

In its April 1980 issue, CREATIVE COMPUTING magazine published a listing of 
"Perquackey" written in DISK BASIC for the TRS-80 Model I, by David E. 
Powers. The game had much of the feel of Scrabble (tm) and hinted at greater 
possibilities. This version of computer Perquackey was very playable and did 
not produce boredom unless played to excess (more than 5 hours at a time). 

In its December 1981 issue, BYTE Magazine featured a version of Scrabble 
(tm) written by Joseph Roehrig in generic MBASIC in the annual games award 
issue. After spending many hours typing in the long listing into my 16K 
"Trash 80", I was rewarded with a very crude and slow simulation of what I 
barely recognized as Scrabble (tm). Disappointing. 

The big breakthrough came in May of 1981. Personal Software Inc. released 
Monty Plays Scrabble (r) for the disk-based 48K Apple II. The graphics were 
low resolution (it did *not* use the Apple's hires mode and it was actually 
necessary to keep track of play on a game board), the game played s-l-o-w at 
the higher levels, and that little disk drive kept grinding away as "Monty" 
looked up words to play. All the same, "Monty" played a remarkably strong 
game, averaging about 350 points per game at the top level and scoring about 
a Bingo per game. This was an astonishing achievement for that generation of 
computer hardware.

The advent of the more powerful IBM PC brought more sophistication to games. 
Virgin Games brought out its version of Scrabble (tm) in the late '80's. It 
played almost as strong a game as "Monty", and the graphics were somewhat 
better.  Around 1990, Virgin Games released Deluxe Scrabble (tm), for PC 
compatibles with hard drive, mouse, and a VGA monitor. The graphics were 
greatly improved, the game play was strong, averaging maybe 380 points per 
game, and the game playing interface the best so far. After 10 years, Monty 
was finally beaten.

Virgin Games Deluxe Scrabble (tm), was issued on CD ROM, and cost in the 
neighborhood of $35 (discounted considerably at computer flea markets, if 
you can still find it). It provides good practice for game play against 
humans, especially in its timed mode. It has many extra options and features 
as a bonus. The word list is only OSPD1 compatible with about 200 errors in 
it. May no longer be available.

In late 1987, Vic Rice wrote a freeware Scrabble (tm) program using EGA 
graphics.  It is difficult to set it up to run on newer computers with 
extended memory, but it plays an interesting game.  His address (still 
valid?): 
       4026 Bayou Grove Rd.
       Seabrook, TX 77586.

In early 1988, Chris Hall of Austin, Texas programmed a simple version of 
Scrabble (tm) and released it as freeware. It allows human players to use 
the computer as a surrogate for the game board and pieces when competing 
against each other. There is *no* computer opponent. This is an interesting, 
if limited program. It may still be available for download from some BBS's. 
As of January, 1988, Chris Hall's address was:
                                             PO Box 9802 #230
                                             Austin, TX  78766.    

There is a very good shareware version of Scrabble (tm) available, called 
Scramble. It can be downloaded from many BBS's and is offered by some 
shareware distributors. Scramble has a very intuitive player interface, 
superior even to that of Virgin Games' commercial version. The graphics are 
only adequate, and important features such as a save-game option and a game 
timer are missing. Still, at $15 to register it is a bargain and highly 
recommended. Scramble may be ordered directly from: 
                                      Diana Gruber
                                      Ted Gruber Software
                                      PO Box 13408
                                      Las Vegas, NV 89112.

Finally, there is Wordsworth. This shareware game is a mind-blowing new 
approach to computer Scrabble (tm). It eliminates the some of the limit- 
ations in classic Scrabble (tm) by allowing the player to configure the 
shape of the board and even to choose the letter distribution. The graphics 
in the highest resolution mode are a bit hard on the eyes and the dictionary 
could be larger (15,000 words in the unregistered version, only 65,000 in the 
registered), but all the same this is a noble attempt to breathe some life 
back into this venerable game.  Also has a number of subsidiary anagram and 
pattern matching utilities. Highly recommended, even if a bit pricey. Costs 
$25 U.S. (75 Rand South African) to register.  May be ordered directly from:
                                       Graham Wheeler
                                       P.O. Box 15525
                                       Vlaeberg
                                       Cape Town 8018
                                       South Africa
                                       ==============
                                       Email: gram@aim1.aztec.co.za
