A Twist on the Original
Unlike many versions and spinoffs of Scrabble, Scrabble Twist is not a fanmade game. This is a product from Hasbro, the publisher of Scrabble in North America. Released in 2015, Scrabble Twist is one of the latest official iterations of Scrabble. As such, the game’s design appropriately appeals to the tastes of the modern gamer.
No Board, No Tiles, No Problem
Scrabble Twist doesn’t have a game board and it doesn’t use any letter tiles. Instead, you play this word finder game on a dedicated handheld game unit. The electronic Scrabble Twist unit is roughly the same size as a TV remote. It has two controls on the side that you twist (hence the “Twist” part of the name) and five buttons in the middle. These buttons are also LED screens that reveal letters as you play.
During play, the until will choose and display five letters on those buttons. The letter selection changes each time you start a new game. For one of the modes, it changes when you pass the unit to another player.
How to Play and Win
The main goal while playing Scrabble Twist is to use the buttons to create words, then twist the end of the unit to lock that word choice in. Any word you create must be at least three letters long. You score points for all valid Scrabble words you create. Each letter of every word is worth one point. This means that spelling the most words (and the longest words) is critical.
Scrabble Twist Rules and Game Modes
Scrabble Twist has two multiplayer modes and one single-player mode. The multiplayer modes use a pass-and-play game style. You and your friends take turns creating words before the timer runs out for the round. The single-player mode, naturally, is less frantic.
Party Mode
Party Mode is for up to eight players and is the regular multiplayer mode. This is a “last player standing” style of game.
Each player had 10 seconds to create a word from letters on the game unit. After that, they pass the game unit to the next player.
Any player who cannot create a word in that time is knocked out of the game.
Players continue taking turns and forming words until all but one player remains. The last player left is the winner.
Turbo Mode
Turbo Mode is more of a head-to-head competition than Party Mode. It also places more importance on your ability to create larger anagrams using the provided letters.
Each player gets 60 seconds to spell as many words as they can. When the timer ends, they pass the game to the next player so they can complete their turn.
Every player uses the same set of letters. Your objective is to create every word you can find with the provided combination of letters.
Once everyone has taken their turn, the game will read each player’s number of words and how long they were to calculate each player’s score. It will then display which player is the winner.
Solo Mode
Solo Mode is a simple marathon mode. You can also think of it as a practice mode.
Given a 60-second time limit, you create as many words as you can using the given set of letters.
Once the time ends, the game displays how many words you found.
With this free-play mode, you hone your skills and try to beat your high score.
More Fresh Spelling Games
The electronic Scrabble Twist game shakes things up for Scrabble fans, to say the least. You can get your fix of solving anagrams, and enjoy it with several friends. Any game that allows you to unleash your inner puzzler while laughing with loved ones is worth a look. Another game in this spirit is Jabuka. Jabuka is a tile-based word game that delivers a new spin of its own on classic spelling gameplay. It might be a big hit at your next party game night.
Zac Pricener has been a content creator for the past eight years. He’s a bit of an all-around nerd, and he has a bad habit of working movie and TV show references into conversations whenever possible.
