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October 19, 2010

Scrabble Flash - Addictive Fun

So on TV the other day I saw an ad for a new variation of the old classic board game Scrabble. The commercial featured 5 small red blocks each with its own LCD screen displaying a unique letter that magically appear from the hands of what appears to be a magician, of which we only see his torso, arms and hands. The blocks float around in the air as he manipulates them to form various words. The letters on the blocks LCD display change allowing him to form even more words. The ad to me was very interesting and the product pitch must have been very compelling because that afternoon I went out and purchased the product called Scrabble Flash.



Well I must say the game can be quite addictive and has become so for me so much so that I was hesitant even to show it to my wife after I opened it and began playing with it.  This was out of fear that she might want to take possession of it for a while before I fully had time to appreciate and evaluate it.

Basically there are 3 different games that can be played 2 of which were designed for Single players and and 3rd that can be played by one or more players. The first game is called "Scrabble Flash" and you have 75 seconds to form as many 3 to 5 letter words as you can with the same set of 5 auto generated letters. You score one point for each 3 to 5 letter word you create and in addition for each 5 letter word formed you also gain an extra 5 seconds of play time. At the end of the game you line up the squares and you are given your achieved score i.e. how many 3 to 5 letter words you formed and the highest number words possible with those 5 letters.  The second game is called  "Scrabble Five-Letter Flash"and the goal for this game is quickly form a 5 letter word using the letters given and each time you complete a word the letters change causing to now create a new word. The play continues until you can no longer form a 5 letter word quickly enough before the timer ends at which point you are given a 5 letter word you could have created and then your score. The third type of play is "Scrabble Pass Flash"  which is vary similar except that you pass the blocks after creating your 5 letter word and each time someone fails to form a 5 letter word with their given letters before the timer runs out they are eliminated until only one player remains. The amount of time allowed to form the word shortens as play progresses.

If that wasn't enough for you or you wanted a slightly easier style of game play, you able turn off one piece and only use 4 blocks to play. This would change the would mean in the first game Scrabble Flash you would then only have to create 2, 3 or 4 letter words and for the subsequent two games it would only require you to form a 4 letter word instead of a 5 letter word.

The blocks are easily transportable in the small plastic case that is included making perfect take along capable of easily fitting in a purse, book bag or briefcase and because the game play is quick you can always find time to play during the day. 

The only real downside is the price point at around $29 and the fact that it takes 5 CR2032 batteries which is unless your me not as common to be found around the house already when they need to be replaced. The good news is that if you don't mind buying off brands then you can probably find a good deal online in bulk on generic CR2032 batteries. The last time I had to get some I ordered them online and got about 20 of them for about $5 versus the same price in the store just for 2 Duracell or Energizer brand ones.

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