Two classic board games have been brought together in Hasbro’s newest mash-up game, Monopoly Scrabble. Despite the unimaginative name, this board game promises a fresh take on two games that most people have played way too many times before.
In a world filled with sprawling TTRPGs like Frosthaven and highly engaging strategy board games like Flamecraft, it’s a bit bold of Hasbro to come out with some ancient throwbacks. But, the game promises easy gameplay perfect for everyone from the kids to the grandparents to enjoy and a max playtime of just one hour, so it’s certainly worth a look for tabletop fans who want something they can bring to events with a mix of gamers and non-gamers for some quick, challenging fun.
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What’s in the Box?
One notable aspect of Monopoly Scrabble is the lack of any plastic parts. While this can make storage just a bit tricky, it’s a nice touch that will likely be most appreciated by environmentally conscious players.
- 1 Quad-fold game board
- 5 Wooden Scrabble tile racks
- 100 Wooden Scrabble letter tiles
- 1 Tile storage bag
- 9 Monopoly tokens
- 24 Community Chest cards
- 24 Chance cards
- 10 property cards
- 120 Monopoly bills
- Rulebook
Setup
Getting ready to play Monopoly Scrabble isn’t like preparing to play most modern tabletop games. It’s quick, easy, and doesn't require a ton of cards or parts to be deployed. While this old-school approach is much appreciated by non-gamers and players who just want a quick activity for everyone to participate in, it also affects the instructions.
The instructions for Monopoly Scrabble are organized in an odd fashion, and can be kind of tough to parse. First and foremost, the instructions jump around a lot. Even the first page is kind of crazy, with instructions like, “The goal is to accumulate the highest total of cash and property value when the last Scrabble tile is played.” When the last Scrabble tile is played, there are still some tasks left to wrap up, but the game is basically over at that time. This is overly confusing for some tabletop players, but it’d probably be best to watch a gameplay video or let one person summarize the rules, rather than trying to have everyone read the rules and figure it out on their own.
One final note about the instructions: the Scrabble rules aren’t the clearest. While Monopoly is fairly common for people to have played, Scrabble is much less so. Lots of younger players won’t know the rules and the ones included with this game assume that everyone at the table has played Scrabble at some point. For example, the rules don't mention blank tiles much, which could lead to some players thinking any tile could be blank if needed (by flipping it over), at the cost of not counting towards the total points. Perhaps it's a reasonable assumption that everyone knows Scrabble basics, but would it have been a bad idea to have the rules written a little more clearly?
No other corners seem to have been cut with this game though, as the board is sturdy, the scrabble racks are made with real wood, and the Monopoly player tokens are metal. Once it’s all set up, the game looks great and immediately appears to be easy to follow.
Gameplay
Monopoly Scrabble advertises an hour (or less) playtime, encouraging groups who just want a quick activity that involves everyone. In order to achieve this short playtime, the game pares down quite a bit from both of its namesakes.
For instance, the game only uses $500 and $100 bills, which can only be used to purchase letter tiles. Yes, that means that no property can be purchased during the game, but that doesn’t mean no property will ever be gained by players. This significant diversion from the standard Monopoly game is covered by Scrabble’s gameplay.
By playing words on the board, players can scoop up squares that give them “color group” property cards. So there’s a property card for brown, blue, orange, and all the rest of properties, including the utilities and railroads. Then, based on the total score of the word, players move their piece around the board. If they land on a color group they don’t own, they have to pay the owner rent, just like with regular Monopoly.
Aside from rent, players can earn money from drawing cards, landing on Free Parking (while there’s money on it), and passing Go. It’s a bit annoying that there are no spaces for the Community Chest or Chance cards, but they’re small enough to fit almost anywhere on a table. Passing Go gives players the largest sum at once, with $2000 being added to their total each time.
This brings us to the main goal of the game: to collect as much money as possible. Each property card has a value assigned to it, which is added to a player’s total at the end of the game. Players are encouraged to use up all of their letters too, as any unused letters will cost players $100 each, money that is to be paid to whichever player doesn’t have any letter tiles left or, if everyone has tiles left, sent to the bank.
This scoring system actually makes the game quite challenging, as players have room to strategize. Is it best to spell as many long words as possible and go around the board often, or would it be best to target specific property squares to keep them out of the hands of other players? Depending on the player, either strategy could work.
The various strategies really help balance the game for a varied group of players. Have a Scrabble-pro grandma? She may win on spelling alone! Sharing the table with an elementary school student who might not have the biggest vocabulary? They can still win if they aim for specific squares and play off other people’s words with simple changes like adding an “s” or an “ed” to the end.
Honestly, experienced Scrabble players may have the hardest time of all playing this game, which is great considering Scrabble hasn’t seen much innovation over the years. It’s not enough to make big words if everyone else is also capable of doing so. More importantly, making big words isn’t always the smart thing to do. If a large word will get a player around the board, but leaves a property square wide open for other players to take, chances are that’s a poor move. At the same time, Free Parking is surprisingly powerful in the game, and scoring words that make a player land on that spot can determine the winner.
Planning where to land is another element that makes the game more dynamic than it might seem. Sure, “Xylitol” is a high-scoring word, but is 67 points going to end in jail? During play-testing, each person’s turn took way longer than expected, partially because we assumed the game was going to be really simple, and partially because it’s not as easy as just scoring the biggest word!
Monopoly Scrabble is shockingly challenging and yet offers many ways to level the playing field for less capable players. Despite being an unexpectedly heady game, each session managed to come in at just under an hour, even when increasing the number of players from three to four.
Overall Impression
Hasbro set out to create a new experience that could bring people together, regardless of how many words they know or how many tabletop games they’ve played, and Monopoly Scrabble truly hits the mark. Sure, this isn’t going to be everyone’s favorite game, but it is a rare title that does exactly what it sets out to do and does it exceptionally well.
The game is a great way for Scrabble experts to face new word challenges or try to spell as many huge words as possible. At the same time, the setup is pretty straightforward and the gameplay easy enough for new players to be able to jump right in. With the quick playtime that seems to run like clockwork, it’s ideal for groups with a tight schedule or impatient children.
Finally, the game as a whole has great replayability value thanks to all of the above. For a pretty affordable, brand-name game based on titles that are nearly 100 years old, Monopoly Scrabble is a surprisingly entertaining game that would make for a great addition to any board game geek’s collection.
Monopoly Scrabble
- Age Recommendation
- 8+
- Game Duration
- 1 hour
- Brand
- Hasbro
- Number of Players
- 2-4
- Designer
- Winning Moves Games
Experience the totally unique gameplay of Monopoly Scrabble. This innovative game combines the best elements of Monopoly and Scrabble, creating a challenging word-building game where players race to have the highest total cash and property value when the last Scrabble tile is played.
In place of rolling dice to move around the board, players build words and move ahead by their Scrabble word score. Players can also build a word on a premium space to claim a Monopoly property and collect rent from other players. The clever gameplay twists keep things moving at a fast pace, making games last no longer than one hour!
Similar Products
While Monopoly Scrabble is designed to be a great game for a wide variety of people, there are lots of other board game titles that bring their flavor of fun to the table.
|
Feature |
Board Game |
Price |
|---|---|---|
|
More Strategic |
Ticket to Ride |
|
|
Faster Gameplay |
Bananagrams |
|
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More Educational |
Trekking the National Parks |
FAQ
Q: What is Monopoly Scrabble?
Monopoly Scrabble is a mash-up of two classic board games: Monopoly and Scrabble! Players try to spell words using randomly drawn letter tiles and use their points to grab property and collect rent from other players.
Q: Has Scrabble been discontinued?
No, Scrabble has not been discontinued, but EA lost its license for the digital version of the game in 2020, leaving its future up in the air for now. The physical game can still be found at most major retailers, typically for less than $15.