Scrabble Classic

Here at Firebox we love Scrabble; words are great, aren't they? We adore the lettery little things. In fact, we find writing the odd product description really helps boost our vocabulary. But we won't bother being flagitious or lexiphanic by discombobulating you with any of our antediluvian locutions. For all we know some of you may suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (an irrational fear of long words).

Someone else who loved words was Alfred Butts. During the Great Depression, the unemployed architect decided to invent a board game. Butts wanted to create a game that combined the vocabulary skills of crossword puzzles and anagrams, with the additional element of chance. Following a cryptographic analysis of our language he came up with a game called Lexico. His invention was briefly renamed Criss Crosswords, but Butts finally settled on Scrabble. And the rest, dear friends, is history.

Scrabble is a total classic. Gimmick-free yet utterly engrossing, its universal appeal is probably due to the fact no two games are ever the same – the possibilities are truly endless. But just in case you've forgotten how much fun this wordy masterpiece can be, help is at hand. The brilliant Scrabble Classic is a gorgeous replica version of the first Scrabble game sold in the UK back in the 1950s. It comes complete with 100 real wood tiles, wooden tile racks and a high quality board.

Improving on a classic isn't easy, but every element, inside and out, has been redesigned to improve the experience of playing the game. We guarantee you'll be totally gobsmackerised (okay, so we made that one up) the minute you start playing with Scrabble Classic, because games like this didn't get where they are today without being fabulously engrossing and utterly addictive. It really is the canis familiaris' oblique spheroids. (Look it up – it's worth 75 points).