The Computer Edition of Scrabble Brand Crossword Game

The Good
Scrabble is a word-building game, which I got into since I joined a club in my late twenties. A computer version of the game was released by Virgin Mastertronic (under their label Leisure Genius), and it is ideal for playing against up to three computer opponents if you can’t find anyone to play with you, or you need more practice to get even with a friend who keeps whipping your ass.

Setting up of the game involves selecting the number of players; these can be up to three humans or computer opponents (each computer opponent can have up to eight skill levels), and if you choose to have the latter, you have to decide whether you want to see the computer thinking. As well as this, you can choose whether or not you want to see all your opponents’ racks. You will then be presented with a well laid-out screen, showing a colorful Scrabble board, the racks on the right, and a close-up view of your own at the bottom. You can also set a time limit for up to five minutes.

Computer Scrabble is faithful to the board game by Hasbro/Mattel, in which players take turns putting original words down using letters on their tile rack, joining another word already on the board. To gain the significant number of points each turn, they can place words down on certain colored squares. During each play, you can swap tiles, pass, nudge your opponent, and forfeit the game; and see the premium squares and tile distribution.

To place a word, you have to enter it using the available letters on your rack, point to the spot on the board where you want the word to be, and select its orientation (across or down). You will also have the opportunity to take it back if you make a mistake. The game records your score, and the computer checks your word against a vocabulary of over 23,000 words. If the word does not exist, that word is challenged. If it is deemed illegal, you lose your turn. Some words in the vocabulary are obscure and strange, and these include azo, oe, za, azon, topi, os, ka, and zoril. There are also recognized words in the Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary.

The Bad
Computer Scrabble fails to recognize certain five-, six-, and seven-letter words such as depart, foray, pebble, pivot, smear, theirs, and trooper. Also, if you are playing with a CPU opponent, it cheats by playing a word that does not even exist and you can’t challenge it as there is no option for it in the menu.

The Bottom Line
Although Computer Scrabble is faithful to the real game, it has problems with words beyond four letters and tends to place down non-words that you can’t even challenge. Although anyone can enjoy this game, I would question why you would want to buy it in the first place when you can join a Scrabble group. Boasting good graphics, all the actions you can perform in a real game are done through menus. Only buy this game when you are certain that you can’t find any friends to play with.