How to Play Scrabble By Email

The only bummer about Scrabble is waiting around for your bonehead opponent to play a word, already! Thanks to the magic of the Internet, falling asleep at the Scrabble board is no longer a problem. Follow these steps and you'll be tiling in no time.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer with Internet connection and Java capability
• Email address
• Friends who check their email

1. Visit www.scrabulous.com and click on "play with a family member or a friend."

2. Be aware that the site will prompt you to enter the names and email addresses of everyone who will participate in the game. Enter your information first.

3. Under "gameplay setup," you need to choose an official Scrabble dictionary to use during the game. The TWL dictionary is the American version, while SOWPODS is used in international play.

4. Choose, in the "game type" menu, to have all invalid words automatically rejected by the computer ("regular") or you can choose to allow players to challenge each other's words ("challenge"). The "challenge" option is only available in two-player games.

5. Click "start," and you'll be taken to a link that says "Click here to play the first move." The link will take you directly to the game board. All normal Scrabble rules apply, and the computer keeps score. To play a word, click and drag the tiles onto the board one at a time, then click "submit word."

6. Know that once you have submitted a word, Scrabulous will send an email notification to your opponent(s) stating that they have been invited to a game and prompting them to click a link that will take them to the game board.

Tips & Warnings

• Little colored buttons just above your rack allow you to alphabetize (green) or shuffle (orange) your tiles. The blue button on the left lets you clear any tiles you placed on the board this turn and put them back on your rack.
• To exchange tiles, put your unwanted letters anywhere on the board and click "swap tiles."
• A little red counter just above your rack tells you how much your word is worth as you put tiles on the board.
• If you roll your mouse over the "last word" box, the board will darken, highlighting the most recent word played in case you can't find it.
• Because players can't see each other during email Scrabble, it is much easier to cheat by using a dictionary or getting help from a friend. In the long run, the game will be more fun if you agree ahead of time on parameters for getting a little "extra help" now and then.

Resources

• Scrabulous.com

[scottmitzi]

on 1/4/2009 Too bad Scrabulous had to be pulled from Facebook, but the new Scrabble game is fun too. Thanks