Limited Entertainment (Scrabble 2009 (DS))

Member Name: DavyMichelle

Product:	Scrabble 2009 (DS)
Date:	25/10/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to Play, Affordable

Disadvantages: Limited, Poor Extras

I quite like a game of Scrabble every now and again, and when I got myself a DS Lite I decided it was a must-have addition to my newly formed games collection. I got it from Argos as part of a 2 for £30 deal, though I now see that quite a few shops have it on sale for only £10 including Play.com and Asda.

Getting to grips with this game took a matter of minutes. I got straight into playing my first game of Scrabble against the computer players, and was able to work out most of controls immediately. I really love how easy it is to play this game. To lay down a word on the board, I just have to select my letter and drag it onto the square I want it to go on, using the stylus. It makes it feel pretty close to the movements I might be using if I was playing Scrabble 'in the flesh'.

Aside from playing games against the computer in the standard Scrabble format, I also had a go at the little campaign that's included. I have to say that this is where the game loses a star for me. The campaign version has a boring little story that is basically being used to give a tutorial on how to play the game. This is handy for teenagers who are just starting to play, but aren't yet sure of the tricks of the game. But perhaps they need to make it clear that this is more of a tutorial than a game so that older players don't waste their time on it!

The opponents on this are pretty alright, though I think I would have preferred a bigger selection or a 'select random opponent' option. I have beaten all of them lots of times, even Esme who is the hardest opponent (though I have only beaten her a few times I have to admit!). Once you know the tricks behind playing Scrabble, it becomes a game of chance. For that reason, there needs to be more variety here to keep the game interesting.

There are some mini games on here that do give an element of variety, but none of them are very good. There's a Texas Hold Em game, a few repetitive anagram games, and a kind of path-words game which is too easy for words! I won't go into details about any of them because they're all clearly games which were shoved on there at the end of production, to give the product the illusion of having some depth and variety.

I love this game for the actual Scrabble main game, and I think this is extremely easy to use. But for the price there needs to be more on here really. I think they could have done with teaming this game up with another popular board game like Monopoly or Cluedo to justify the price tag.

Summary: Recommended