Scrabble + Fabulous = Scrabulous!

Scrabulous
Photo: Google Images

Of all the Facebook application requests I receive everyday, Scrabulous has never been one of them.

However, Scrabulous a virtual knock-off of the board game Scrabble, played primarily on Facebook, is quickly becoming popular, especially with younger audiences.

According to the New York Times, Hasbro who owns the rights to Scrabble in North America and Mattel, who markets it everywhere else are not happy because they say they have deals with other companies to create online versions of the game.

According to Matt Mason, a consultant to the entertainment industry and author of "The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism," "If you're Hasbro or Mattel, it isn't in your interest to shut this down."

By saying it's not in their best interest to shut down Scrabulous, Mason means that with consumers increasingly looking to the internet for entertainment, board game industries are going to have to adapt.

I have to agree.

I love board games. In fact I have five sitting in my living room right now, but I consider myself in the minority.

Most young adults are going to play a quick game on the internet while procrastinating on their homework or before class starts. It's convenient and fast.

Not only are young adults finding their entertainment through games on the internet, but through video games such as the Xbox or Playstation. Board games just aren't exciting when compared to the high tech graphics and variety that video games offer.

Yet it seems wrong that Hasbro and Mattel want to shut down Scrabulous in favor of their own online games since so many people are already fans of Scrabulous.

According to the New York Times, there are several groups on Facebook dedicated to saving Scrabulous including "Save Scrabulous" and "Please God, I Have So Little: Don't Take Scrabulous Too."

I think that the owners of Scrabble, Hasbro and Mattel, should work with the creators of Scrabulous rather than trying to shut them down.