With the launch of Scrabble Trap Tiles, Mattel has revealed over half of Brits admit to sabotaging board games at Christmas.

With nearly six in 10 adults admitting to bending the rules or even sabotage when playing board games at Christmas, Mattel has unveiled the perfect game for people who prefer bending the rules to following them.

Scrabble Trap Tiles is an all new edition with a twist on the classic ultimate word game. Players can steal points, tiles or even the game. It marks the first ever major change to the popular game, which was first launched 74 years ago.

The new edition allows players to lay hidden traps to sabotage opponents and features an explosive twist with the addition of Trigger and Trap Tiles that set off special abilities such as stealing points or removing tiles, giving strategic players an advantage. Players can build words to score points but need to beware the premium squares; a trap may have been set there, turning the game on its head.

To celebrate the new edition, Mattel has teamed up with celebrity prankster Sam Thompson and Scrabble fan and girlfriend Zara McDermott on the Ultimate Games Night, to see who can come out on top when underhand tactics are at play.

Sam Thompson said: “Anybody who knows me, knows I love winding people up – but what most people don’t know is that I’m the ultimate games night saboteur, loving nothing more than using my brains, wit and a few underhand tactics to win.”

Wanting to find out how Brits really play games, Mattel commissioned a survey of 2,000 adults and discovered facts such as:

• Nearly six in 10 admit to ‘bending the rules’ or even sabotage when playing board games with their family at Christmas – but rarely get away with it
• 52% have a competitive streak when playing against their loved ones – and 45% admitted they are guilty of trying to win by any means possible
• When things don’t go their way, 50% have ‘rage quit’ – and 46% admit there will be at least one row over a board game
• Overall families will sit down to play an average of four board games over the festive period, and 57% say it is a family tradition
• 27% will play the same board games each year, while 31% will play a mixture of new and old favourites

“Playing games at Christmas is a much-loved tradition – and it’s interesting to see how many surprising traits come out the woodwork in gameplay, from sabotaging to cheating,” said Kelly Philp, marketing director at Mattel UK. “Seeing how much Brits love to ‘create their own rules’ in gameplay means no game is ever the same and seeing the hilarious tactics game fans create has been illuminating. The Scrabble Trap Tiles edition is an all-new way to play the classic game – but this time, we are giving fans all the tools they need to sabotage their opponents by stealing points, tiles or even the game.”