A few days ago, a good friend and I partook in the most expensive game of Scrabble I’d ever played. While no wagers were involved, a whole lot of iOS devices were. Using the Scrabble HD app on iPad as a hub, the two of us connected our iPhones to it over Wi-Fi and used them as Tile Racks. The end result was surprisingly seamless and a blast to play.
One could argue that this method removes the fun from a timeless game as it involves yet another way for us to spend time staring at screens, but I’d argue the opposite. This type of argument would be like saying reading on the iPad isn’t really reading as it uses an LCD instead of paper. I see this version of Scrabble as the logical evolution of the game–and board games in general for that matter. No longer is a trip to the basement required to grab a dusty old box off a shelf. Now a game of Scrabble or Monopoly can be played with the same level of immersion and interactivity with devices one carries on their person. Even better, the majority of these games support local bluetooth in addition to Wi-Fi to interact with devices. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities. For instance, when’s the last time you were able to play a full game of Scrabble with the family while on a road trip? Unless your Wagon Queen Family Truckster is a Rolls Phantom, those tiny tiles will be bouncing around everywhere! EA’s execution of these classic titles on iOS has, for the most part, been flawless. The only problem was my own lack of vocabulary. Remember, the on-board dictionary is cheating folks!
Scrabble HD is available in the App Store for $9.99 here.
The free Scrabble Tile Rack app for iPhone is available here.