The game of Scrabble was first developed as 'Lexico', in the 1930s by American, Alfred Butts whose early prototypes for the game, not including a playing board were initially rejected by manufacturers. After the concept was put on hold during the war years and several more name and concept changes, Scrabble was patented in 1948 and by the early 1950s its mass appeal spread across America. It was subsequently marketed in the UK through J. W. Spears and Co in 1954.

Scrabble is a word game for two to four players. By formulating words from each player's randomly selected seven letter tiles (from a pool of 110) and placing on a gridded board to make words in horizontal and vertical formations different scores and combinations of words can be made, much like the premise for crosswords. Players always had seven tiles at any one time, replaced in each round when some letters are placed on the board. Each letter tile has a corresponding number printed on it showing its score as a playing piece within a word. The printed grid board also has some pale blue squares, (denoting a double letter score) dark blue squares, (denoting a triple letter score) and red squares (denoting a trip word score) achieving better scores if the player places their word across one of these. The winner of the game is the one who has scored the most points with the words used when all of the tiles, where possible, have been placed on the board.
Words used must appear in a dictionary and games can often result in dispute and discussion about the usage of words. It has a universal appeal and continues to be enjoyed by children and adults alike and has even inspired international tournaments.