Woe for a Triple Point Score

I've played real Scrabble maybe three times in my life. It's fun and all, but I don't tend to suggest it when people are talking about board games. (Apples to Apples anyone?)

But then came Scrabulous.

It's perfect for me--I can pick a word and walk away for a few days. I can try out letters to see if what I think is a nonsense word is actually a real word. (Woohoo double letter score!) I can avoid doing work by telling myself I am doing work since Scrabulous uses words and I work with words so...yeah, it's a stretch, but it's the best Facebook application out there. (Does anyone really want to be a mutant-pirate-zombie? Except in real life, of course.)

But Scrabble, the mighty Scrabble, has given my poor little Scrabulous the smackdown.

I think companies need to better understand how the internet figures into their products. Are they getting any money from Scrabulous? No, but they sure as hell weren't before, either. I never thought, "Hey, Scrabble sounds like a good old time! Let's start a tournament!" And yet, with Scrabulous, I'd be far more willing to get my own set in case I ever want to feel like a pilgrim. (Blasphemy for the triple word score; take that, Hezekiah!) People who won't want to buy a product aren't going to be swayed by the free online version. But people who might buy it get the chance to try it out and get into the game. If anyone, Scrabble should consider Scrabulous to be a gateway drug.

Until then, Morgan and I will have to hold our Scrabulous games near and dear to our hearts.