Word Up – Word Soup
“Word Up” or “Word Soup” is an electronic word game that is often played in English pubs. By one account, Word Up video games are found in approximately 40% of the pub locations in the U.K. Word Up or Word Soup games are similar to an electronic version of Scrabble or Boggle.
How To Play Word Up
When playing Word Up, the video console supplies the player with a random collection of letters. The Word Soup player must build words with these letters, collecting points for the more complicated words with the harder letters.
Word Up requires the player to clear the table of words, instead of placing words on a table, like in Scrabble. Also, the point system is very different from Scrabble, given that you get 500 points for clearing your letters, for example.
Though Word Up is played on the gambling video consoles known as the “itbox”, Word Up is considered a “skill-with-prizes” or SWP game. This makes the electronic word game legal to play.
Word Up United Kingdom Pub Game
The popularity of Word Up is impressive, given that the words game first appeared only in 2003. Word Up was created by Big Fizz Games that year and has been a huge winner for the electronic game designer since then. In fact, the game grew popular enough that it spawned a national tournament in 2007.
2007 Word Up National Tournament
Word Up players from all over the UK played against one another in 2007 for a grand prize of £1000. In all, there were 50 prizes to be won in the Word Up Tournament. I would mention the eventual winner, but his name had to do with some part of the female anatomy. I guess the players were wordsmiths, but also heavy-drinking word smiths. Go figure. 
Word Soup
Also in 2007, a second edition of Word Up appeared in British pubs. This version had the same gameplay, but was called Word Soup. I’m not exactly sure why the name change came about, but the game only grew in popularity. One possible reason for a more striking name was the fact that Big Fizz Games had licensed Word Up to the Microsoft Corporation.
Word Soup XBOX 360
In 2008, the XBox version of Word Soup was marketed. This word game appeared on the XBox 360 Community Games Channel. This game was practically identical to a PC version of Word Soup that came out prior, except it allowed Word Soup players to enjoy games against the XBox 360 online community.
Word Soup – Skill With Prizes
Because Word Soup is considered a skill with prizes game, it is legal to play in England. Games require 50 pence to play, while paying out 10 pounds for a full victory (20 pounds in the original version). Word Soup gamers enjoy the bragging rights, though, since Word Soup follows the video game convention where the top point winners have their name placed on the video game console between games.
Also, Word Soup players enjoy showing off their word skills and drinking skills at the same time. (sting sound)