I Played a Giant Robot in Scrabble

In 2018, I played an exhibition best-of-3 match against a Scrabble-playing robot created by Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). This was one of the most unique things I've ever had the opportunity to do in my Scrabble career, so I wanted to share it with all of you as well.

Much of the gameplay footage is from John Chew, CEO of NASPA, used with permission - thanks John!

For more Scrabble content from me, follow my Twitch channel:

I also have a weekly show on the official Scrabble Twitch channel (Tuesdays 3-5 PM ET)

[michaeledwards]

I would be so frustrated a team of engineers didn't bother to read the rules of the game lmao

[AlexDings]

Next time someone plays a bingo against me that I don't know, I'll just go full robot
*Oops. Please follow the rules*
_stares at opponent until they take back the word_

[vari]

Huge respect for taking the no-hooking "rule" as a challenge and seeing it as an interesting variation! I can't imagine how frustrating that must've been.

[Christoff]

I wish they programmed itt so the robot whirrs, sparks and then blows up after you beat it

[XANDOAndy]

Will's willingness to accept obstacles like "my opponent clearly doesn't know the rules of Scrabble" as a fun and interesting challenge to overcome is just one of many reasons I have so much respect for him.

[Kwprules]

You'd think the scrabble bot programmers would have taught it how to play SCrabble

[pedrovitor]

So basically the robot's strategical twists that you mentioned was about changing the game rules :D

[beetroot]

I'm really impressed how quickly you adapted to the robot and the modified version you played! Immediately strategizing around it is really cool to see too.

[Couriway]

Your vids are awesome dude, really getting into the game from them!

[ShuffleboardJerk]

I feel like it would have been perfectly fine if the “rule changes” were communicated ahead of time. I don’t understand how they thought it would be ok to just let him discover the rule changes as he played.

[joshcoughx]

That, "Please follow the rule" was pretty intimidating.

[HopUpOutDaBed]

why is this the first time I'm hearing of this? if I ever played a giant scrabble robot for the fate of humanity that would be the first thing I tell anyone when I meet them.

[pathutchison]

The machines already took chess from us. Scrabble must be defended.

[Ramboost]

I just realized with words like zeolite, ionomer, piezo and of course oxyphenbutazone my chemistry and material science background gives me an casuals advantage in vocabulary

[lucienhiemsta]

What I really enjoy about this channel is the stories that I would normally never hear off. Also I enjoy the game Scrabble (and also Wordfeud, a variant of scrabble), because I have played this for many years in my own language (Dutch). It is also really interesting to see the similarities between Scrabble and chess, in which you both have to be aware of your opponents play and be able to play defensively and offensively at the right times.

[megalodon_attack]

I really appreciate your effort to make our beloved game more common to people and enjoyable to watch without even understanding Scrabble too deeply. Keep up the good work, Will!

[hhfilms]

Your latest videos are all very high quality and thoroughly entertaining, thanks for your great work!

[RandyDaGamer]

I’m so glad I discovered your channel! It’s a blast and your Scrabble skills are truly amazing and tantalizing

[lewis]

I'm addicted to scrabble since finding your channel.

[moneynoob]

I didn't know scrabble youtube is a thing but I'm hooked!