Back to Scrabble: The Digital Versions

I had to return to Scrabble as a topic. As I am still talking about word board games, I felt it appropriate to talk about the digital versions of Scrabble available out there.

You see... many boardgame buffs face the problem of not finding volunteers to play within her circles of friends and relatives.

Unless you joing a Scrabble club or something like that, you may find it hard to persuade your partner, sister, mother or whoever you live with to play the game with you... especially if you come up with that idea late at night, or when your partner is watching that boring TV mini-series.... (How inconsiderate! huh?).

But human kind is wonderful sometimes. Now we can do away with human companions by simply picking your favourite game console (or even your PC) and play with digital friends. ;-)

One such console games I tried out was the Gameboy Advance Scrabble. There is a Gameboy Color version, but the GBA version is far more advanced... and more entertaining.

The GBA Scrabble game has 10 playing levels. Each level has a guru that plays with you and, let me tell you: the higher the level, the smarter your opponent is. They come up with words I never imagine existed!

You can also time the game, so that it does not drag forever. I timed mine to 45 minutes, as that is what it takes my bus to take me to work, and the same on the way back home.

But besides being able to play the normal game with digital (and souless) players (who kicked my butt despite not having a blooming soul in any event!), you can also play in special puzzle mode. Very entertaining indeed.

I also liked the fact that you could chose the language you could play in. I speak Spanish fluently, but I found it hard to play in that language. But people who speak it on an everyday-basis may play better than I have thus far.

I know GBA is now moving straight to the antics department, as other hand held consoles are taking over. But if anything, this version of Scrabble showed me that the game that started being played on a dinning table can be played better (in many respects) in the digital mode.

I would love to try the Scrabble PC version. I bet it is equally entertaining and amuzing, and I guess you can also play online with other human beings around the world. This is another plus for the digital version of boardgames.

Hmmm... so much to play with and so little time!

Jeff

Visual-Eyes This:Another great words game!

There is a game that caught my attention this weekend. It is called "Visual Eyes".

The game is simple, but it is exactly that attribute that makes it appealling.

It consists of 19 big dice displaying an image on each of their respective faces. You roll the dice, and try to come up with the largest number of phrases related to the images you see in a certain amount of time.

The possible combinations of phrases you can come up with from looking at the images on the dice is large enough to keep you entertained for a long time. However, even if this is the case, I reckon the manufacturers should come up with additional dice sets to add novelty to the game later on (an add on pack).

I was very impressed with it... not as good as Cranium though... but not bad for the low price of $29.95 AUD.

I guess it must be cheaper in the USA....

Worth exploring if you are a conceptual and lexicon buff (a dude - or dudette - who knows lots of words and learns concepts easily).

Jeff