I grew up playing lots of word games with family and friend. One game I loved was Scrabble. Now, I don't have anyone that wants to play. Does anyone here play Scrabble online? I've been a member of the Internet Scrabble Club (ISC) for several years. You play a tournament style game timed game against newbies and some very talented players. It's easy to download WordBiz, which is free software that allows the player to view the interface. You're rated on each game, and can compete against players of similar strength. I play 3 minute games, because for me they are the most challenging. But, you can choose to play games 60 minutes long, if desired. My rating varies from 600 - 1000 points. If you don't feel like playing, ISC has an option to observe the boards of other players. The best part is you get to play people from all over the world.
When I was younger I played Scrabble with my neighbors. Everyone is passed away or lost interest and my board is on my shelf at home. I don't want to play on international boards though I play just for fun. Scrabble is a wonderful game and my Mom played Scrabble once upon a time and doesn't care for it now. I find word games at pch.com or candystand.com and enjoy it!
I can't find anyone to play in my area. Everyone is afraid their spelling is not up to par. I'd love to play a live game with a human, but... doesn't seem to be in the cards for me.
I still have Scrabble, but no one to play with either. I also have UpWords. It's been a long time since I have played either game. I don't play games with others online. I prefer to be able to pick up and put down my device and the game apps based on my schedule, and I get irritated if I have to wait for someone else to respond. I don't mind watching others, though. I used to sit in on poker tournaments a friend would play in, so maybe I'll check out the Scrabble games you mentioned at some point.
That's why I play three minute games. Neither player has the time to fiddle around thinking about what to do. The time runs out quickly, plus there's also no time to look up a word to cheat. Let me know if you ever want to play. I'll PM you all the details and we can arrange for a game. It's quite fun. Only two people can play, no four people games. Wordbiz is very different from the other Scrabble type games online, and has thousands of members, so there's always a game you can play with someone. Some of the players are VERY good and play in all the international tournaments. You set the rating points you want the other player(s) to have when you play. I set mine to 500 to 9999. You also set the dictionary you want to use. I use the American version which is TWL.
I've never played online, but I play regularly on the old-fashioned board. We stick to the "old" rules, using only words found in the Chambers Dictionary, with no proper nouns allowed. I don't like the idea of using proper nouns...for example, I could put down "Zcwelka" or some such word and then say, "Oh, didn't you know? He was a midfield player for Lech Poznan in the 1970s."
The old rules apply at Wordbiz, no proper nouns. I looked up the Chambers Dictionary online and discovered it's a UK dictionary. Interesting. TWL is the official Tournament Word List and TWL98 word lists contain words allowed in Scrabble for the US, Canada, Israel, and Thailand. SOWPODS is the word list used in tournament Scrabble in most countries except the USA, Thailand, and Canada. SOWPODS is an anagram for OSPD (Official Scrabble Players' Dictionary), and OSW (Official Scrabble Words), the two lists on which it was based. I played one game of SOWPODS and did not do well at all. So, I stick to TWL.
Yes, Chambers is based in Edinburgh and used to be the official Scrabble dictionary. It does, though, include American spellings. We still use Chambers as most of the cryptic crosswords we do are based on it.
Rules? Y'all use rules when you play games? Just kidding. I am not into using proper nouns, either. People who do things like that are cheaters, in my opinion. I don't have time to play right now, but might be interested in the future. I definitely like the idea of timed games, because sitting and waiting on someone else to make a move is extremely irritating to me. For now, I just play Solitaire/Bejeweled/Word Search Puzzles on my tablet when I get a random minute here and there, and there's no pressure, which is perfect right now.
I still play scrabble occasionally with Lisa and despite it being her second language she sometimes beats me same with crosswords lol
I used to play against a friend who is Croatian and we agreed that he could use a dictionary. His vocabulary was pretty good, but he wasn't always certain on spelling, so it seemed fair to let him check words.
We used to play lots of Scrabble. Wife and I have 'Super Scrabble'. Larger board and about twice the tiles as regular Scrabble. Takes about 3 hours to play a game. When the daughters come to our house in the winter months, out comes the Super Scrabble. We'll play 6 to 7 hours straight. The girls have promised that when I'm in the rest home they'll bring the Scrabble to me and let me win!!! :>) Wife got started playing 'Words for Friends' when she got her tablet. Now, she plays that with one daughter, our son, and a couple of her cousins. Guess it's just like Scrabble, only on your phone/tablet. You can also message the person you are playing with. During our son's last deployment overseas, she and he "visited" via Words for Friends. He had to be careful what he was telling her. Yet, she was able to message him through that means whenever he was able to get Wi-Fi connections.