Review: Scrabble (Nintendo DS)

I consider myself an amateur wordsmith, and I love all types of word games. I have one sister-in-law in particular, though (and you know who you are!), who is wickedly skilled at one of my favorites: Scrabble. She plays so often and knows the tips and tricks so well, that the few chances I’ve ever had to play her, she’s smeared my sorry ego all over my unused tiles.

I’ve tried getting into playing scrabble on my PC, to hone my own mad skillz, but the experience always falls a little flat. Fortunately, Electronic Arts has just released a much more dynamic Scrabble for the Nintendo DS. Now you have three ways to play: classic, speed, or slam Scrabble. “Classic” is just like you would expect from playing with your standard board and tiles. “Speed” is just like it sounds – you are timed. “Slam,” though, is something really fun and unique!

In Slam Scrabble, you play against an opponent, and you are both given the Scrabble tiles. The computer generates one four-letter word, and then you and your opponent race through your tiles, switching just one letter at a time to create a new four-letter word. I understand it might be hard to picture. Say the computer starts with “team.” You need to quickly lay down maybe a “b” to make it beam or “s” to make it seam, or whatever. But you have to do it before your opponent makes a move, or else she might change the word before you even get to it (to something like “tear,” for instance). It’s really fast-paced and keeps you on your toes! The play continues until the first person gets rid of all their tiles. Apparently Electronic Arts is introducing this digital version in time to parallel Hasbro’s release of the Scrabble Slam card game. Very cool.

What I also love about Scrabble for the DS are the training exercises. There are six activities that help strengthen your skill in terms of vocabulary, pattern recognition, and point strategies. I feel like such a word ninja when I get through with the training!

There is one observation I must make with this game, and it has to do with allowable words. The game includes valuable tools like hints on best word to play, and the official Scrabble dictionary. But that dictionary must be VERY new compared to the ones I’ve seen before. I was surprised to see that words like “dis” (to disrespect) and “stat” (short for statistic) were considered valid. In my old-school Scrabble days, slang and abbreviations weren’t allowed. Just for kicks, I tried the blogger slang word “squee” (to express great joy). No such luck. Okay, so the new official Scrabble dictionary is hip, but maybe not that hip.

To see the video trailer of Scrabble for the DS, visit the EA/Hasbro website.

You might also enjoy these related posts from Tree, Root, and Twig:

1. Review: Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (Nintendo DS)
2. Review: Littlest Pet Shop Spring (Nintendo DS)
3. Review: Zenses Ocean & Zenses Rainforest (Nintendo DS)

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