10 Jan, 2010, Word wars: A few gaming alternatives can boost your vocabulary

Chron.com: Word wars: A few gaming alternatives can boost your vocabulary

We're not here to knock Scrabble. Honest, we appreciate triple-word scores as much as the next competitive logophile. But sometimes we crave wordplay at times and places that don't favor cumbersome game boards. Besides, what if we just want to play a word a day (or a week) instead of a full game at one sitting?

Thanks to some clever alternatives, we can satisfy that appetite for more convenient, portable Scrabble combat and boost our word power to boot.

Here are a few options perfect for dueling wordsmiths short on time, space or attention span:

Puzzle apps
Lexulous (www.lexulous.com)
Before FarmVille turned everyday Facebook users into compulsive virtual agriculturists, the Scrabble clone Scrabulous ruled Facebook as the site's hottest game. Legal strong-arming by Hasbro (which owns the North American rights to Scrabble) forced Scrabulous to shut down in 2008, but it relaunched as the less-derivative-sounding Lexulous. More than 1 million Lexulous users plant words at lexulous.com, by e-mail and with a mobile version.

Scrabble app (prices vary, free versions available)
Scrabble has its own mighty app for various platforms. The iPhone app, which is compatible with the iPad and iPod touch, handles up to 50 simultaneous games, has a built-in dictionary and includes a Teacher feature to show you the best word choice from your previous move. There's also Scrabble for BlackBerry and Palm as well as the Kindle.

Words with Friends (99 cents or free with ads for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad)
For those who don't take their wordplay too seriously, Words with Friends makes a more casual and, yes, friendlier alternative. Its game board is easier on the eyes than Scrabble's, plus it lets you invite players via Twitter as well as Facebook. And to keep the wordplay close-knit, WWF caps simultaneous games at a more manageable 20.

Wordfeud (free)
Android users get their own clash of verbiage with Wordfeud, a free multiplayer app that pits you against friends and random opponents in up to 30 simultaneous games.

Portable puzzles
Scrabble Flash ($29.99)
This electronic version of Scrabble encourages small words but not small vocabularies. Scrabble Flash has five interactive SmartLink letter tiles you connect for words and points. The tiles know when you make a word and change letters on every turn; they also time your turns, keep score and include batteries so you can slide, swap and spell right out of the box. For one or more players.

Bananagrams ($14.99)
For this portable anagram game, players just need the banana-shaped pouch full of letters and a tabletop — no game board, paper or pencil required. Players make their own individual crossword puzzles at the same time, plucking from their own letter pile and the center "bunch." The first player with no more letters shouts "Bananas!" and wins the hand. Also available for Facebook as well as iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Scruble Cube ($24.95)
Slap Scrabble-like letters and bonuses on a 4-by-4 Rubik's Cube and you have Scruble Cube, a 3-D word game where you create words horizontally, vertically, even around multiple faces of the cube. Every letter peg on Scruble Cube has a point value and rotates for easier word crafting. If you'd rather go the Rubik's route, you can play Scruble Cube as a puzzle and return it to its original configuration. Includes a sand timer, score pad and instructions.