TOS Crew: Scruble Cube

The Scruble Cube is simply amazing. Think Rubik’s Cube crossed with Scrabble or Boggle and you have an inkling of this toy/game.

What is it? Well, it’s a word game, but there’s so much more to it than that. It’s a word game for active learners, for one thing. It’s a word game that can as easily work as a game of solitaire as with a number of players. You can use the included rules, download educational activities to use with the Scruble Cube,  or make up rules of your own (which we often find ourselves doing).

The cube has six faces (as cubes do), with sixteen letters per face. You can rotate the letters the same way you’d manipulate a Rubik’s Cube to come up with a seemingly infinite combination of letters.

(The thing is just about impossible to leave alone. Just now, in the middle of the previous paragraph, I couldn’t resist picking up the cube. My eyes caught A-L-G in a row, and my brain said, “Hey! Why don’t we try to make the word algae?” Since the Cube was sitting right there in front of me, it was awfully hard to say No to my brain… I’m not quite sure how it happened, but a few twists later I had A-L-G-A-E on two faces, for a point score total of 10 points. Wait a minute! I just looked at the space before the “A” and I have a 2x word score, which makes the word worth 20 points, plus a three-face bonus of 10 points, for a grand total of 30!!! Woohoo, I’m on my way! Anybody want to join in and play?)

Fun, educational, easy to pick up

So you see, this game is hard to resist. Even Youngest, who struggles with spelling and usually avoids word games, goes for this one, with its built-in manipulative feel. The Scruble Cube fits nicely between your two hands, easy to rotate this way or that. New words form at a twist of the wrist, and if you can spell any three-letter word, you can play.

The game comes with a scorepad and sand timer. The point is to come up with the biggest word you can, or biggest number of points (since you might be able to make more than one word crossword-style), in your turn.

Our girls immediately took it out of the box the day it arrived, and I don’t think it’s had an idle day since. The Cube has gone everywhere with us; to church, to lessons, to waiting rooms, even been played in the car, and the only reason it’s on the desk in front of me right now is because I kidnapped it from a previous possessor.

How to get one of your own

The Scruble Cube is available here for $24.95. You can also get a set of replacement labels for $4.95.

Award winning fun!


Not surprisingly, this toy has won awards for its creativity, ease of use, and just plain fun!


Hey…


Christmas is coming up. Not to mention birthdays, other holidays. Mother’s Day? Father’s Day? The Scruble Cube really is the kind of gift you could give to an adult or a child. It can sit on the desk as a paperweight, on call at any time to relieve stress or provide a mental break from concentrated work. Or just let it sit in out in the open, on a table or shelf.

I don’t think you’ll ever have to dust it at all.

Read more TOS Crew reviews of this product here.

Disclaimer: Our family was given a free Scruble Cube for review purposes.  No other compensation was involved.