Description:
If you can't find anyone to play with you because you're just too good--or you just don't like cleaning up little wooden tiles--the Scrabble CD-ROM is for you. Up to four players (human or computer) can play on a variety of boards and backgrounds (try chrome in the desert for that Road Warrior look). You can choose your computer opponent from five levels of difficulty, from Novice to Champion, or you can create your own custom opponent, based on a chesslike rating. Play is speedy and satisfying; the sounds of the tiles clicking on the board are alarmingly realistic. You can challenge words, be challenged yourself, or find definitions of words you don't know in the online Official Scrabble Dictionary. (You can even receive hints and suggestions from the "Maven.") Online multiplayer is in full force, too. Play with bored students in Oxford using the network features; though this slows the game down depending on your Internet connection rate, you'll find you need more time to crush your human challengers anyway. Sharpen your skills with the minigames: find two- or three-letter words, do anagrams, or find the best play with a given setup. Even if you're a regular Scrabble player, you should find yourself returning to your computer time and again, either to brush up or to try again against the champion. --Rob Lightner
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