Bored of board games? Scrabble Go is a game changer.
There is no point dancing around the subject, before Covid I thought that board games were reserved for the sick and disturbed. Only for a special selection of characters that lumbered around the aisles of libraries hissing shhhh between coughs and sucking on fruit gums. I thought the whole experience was a complete waste of time. Okay fine, I have played Monopoly with friends before, and felt the exhilaration of nearly winning then playing smart and combining forces with previous rivals. Meaning that we dominated the board, destroying the competition in our path. But apart from that fleeting moment, board games really did leave me quite frankly bored.
It’s all just such a drag; having to pull out the old box from under the stairs to look through the broken pieces, ripped up rule book and greasy thumbprints on what remained of the missing cash. The process from start to finish was just too much effort. Way too much for my attention span. Especially after the honest effort of getting all the fiddly bits and pieces out, then having to find and convince everyone to actually play. Board gaming means either drinking to get through each roll, or staring out of the window and wondering what life is like ‘out there in the real world’. Rather than handcuffed to the dice and forgetting who’s go it is next which seamlessly rolls onto a heated argument because you are losing, hangry and cold. But all that has changed. Especially when I discovered Scrabble Go.
I only recently discovered Scrabble deep into my mid-thirties, a little too late in life I admit. It was a revelation, and I am so thankful for the introduction. It changed my life. I didn’t exactly realise how special this game could be. You probably presume that that playing board games such as this would be second nature to a millennial. Key example being Monopoly, the ultimate game of conservative capitalism. Yet these games were left lost and forgotten at the bottom of the drawer when I was a kid. But discovering this game of words completely changed my outlook on life.
We had banned original Monopoly from our house in the late 90’s for fear of another butter knife wielding Eastender’s style argument over how many houses you are allowed on one site before you can have a hotel. I’ve also played from midnight to three in the morning with some good friends and we had a whale of the time. But maybe that was the dark spirits dancing within talking. And if I’m really honest, I’ve even played digital Monopoly four player on the Nintendo Switch, and that was pretty eye opening. All the graphics and sounds, the next move is as easy as passing the controller. It’s as if you are in an arcade without having a pocket of pound coins weighing you down. Liberating. Yet still, it doesn’t float my board, do not pass go, no £200 for me. And while we are here; Fuck buckaroo, and boggle can bog off too. Snakes and Ladders is for kids and Cluedo is for the demented.
The first time I ever played Scrabble in real life was with polished wooden board and it felt like I was in a lux game show hosted by David Dickinson; immediately I was teleported to a by gone era, as if I was a blink away from being handed champagne mid-move in St Tropez and my brow dabbed by casino hosts whilst playing. I felt like royalty every time I placed a word down. But having this gorgeous board is an expensive investment.
I was drained at the thought of playing yet another board game at home, especially 9 months into Lockdown. But actually, Scrabble Go, an online mobile game, is unbelievably good. The app takes moments to set up and is no trouble to get into the swing of things. There’s even an instant messaging service where you can text each other in-game absurdities, which is great fun. Especially when you’re losing. The game takes no effort to enjoy either, you can literally play in your pants and no one will know. You don’t even have to get any pieces out, or scramble around for the rules — it is all there in the palm of your hands. You just click on and play. Super simple. There even is a handy robot that can help you out if you like to cheat, (not that I do, honest!) and even goes onto to help you realise what high scoring move you missed from the previous go. You learn as you play.
During lockdown when we can’t see each other physically, you can’t share the dice legally, you can’t get even sneak people round to play in real life. So Scabble Go is the ultimate solution. We can reconnect with our friends and new nemeses’ by playing this classic game with no bored looks ever again. You can pick it up, put it down, play again, swear loudly out of frustration into the nights sky at the outrageous triple letter triple word bonus using a 10-letter slammer, or even have a little think in silence about how to go one better. No pressure, no drama, no troubles whatsoever. Or, if you get a little distracted by dinner or the television, take a break and try it all over again tomorrow and the board is still set in place. It is truly brilliant.
