Accessories

Had a lot of trouble installing
Immediately after the install, I experienced the black window, etc that other reviewers have mentioned.
Be patient, wait. It comes up eventually.
Getting into the game after the install is much easier.
You can always F2 it and it immediately goes to the menu.

Scrabble, great fun!
I'd owned Scrabble CD for two years after being given one for a birthday--then I moved, and I couldn't find my CD. I looked and looked, and I finally ordered a new one. I really enjoy playing on the computer with Maven. It is a mini-vacation, takes me away from everyday and puts things into perspective. I recommend Scrabble CD!

The Vista User Review, NOT FOR XP
If you are running Windows Vista and you love Scrabble this is a great buy. NOT FOR XP.

The game itself is just PRETTY GOOD.

Notable features:

HINTS: Gives you clues for a good play, every time you press the button until the word and coordinates is given. Feature can be disabled.

Word Suggestions: Shows you the best 10 plays and will play them for you if you click the choice

Dictionary: You can look up words during the game. No need to struggle flipping pages or carry around a heavy book.

Word Lister: List all possible words from you rack or a specified (you can input) anagram, constanant and vowel dump (when you have too many of the same letter or smae type of letter), list of words with "Q without a U"

Rack sort: Alphabetically, Vowels first, Descending or Ascending value, shuffle

Six levels of Difficulty: Novice (very easy) to Champion (Perfect)

Display options: Choose from 11 backgrounds, 3 game boards, a slant or straight board, dark or light tiles

Player Records: keeps player profiles including highest scored game, average score, number of games won and lost, and best play

Mini-games: 11 different single player games with different objectives for developing your scrabble skills

Custom dictionaries: You can create custom dictionaries to add your own words


Pros:
- Very Fast play, no lag
- Automatic scoring
- Automatic challenge and penalty (can be disabled)
- Pick your own tiles or let the computer pick for you
- Can be played online
- Satisfiable Graphics
- Never freezes
- Save up to 10 games
- Tournament mode


Cons:
- Must run full screen to play: You can't play the game and do something else on the PC. You'll have to press the Windows key. There is no minimize button.
- Only one rack can be shown at a time, make game time a little slow when playing with friends

Overall, its a pretty good game. Not only lets you play but teaches you how to improve your playing. I play it everyday.

Somewhat behind the times
The game plays well, but the simple graphics show their age. Background choices are limited, with no capability for buyers to use their own. Fortunately, background music can be turned off.

There is no technical support, even though it is claimed in the documentation. The documentation is a PDF file that is not formatted to print out on 8.5x11 paper. No directions are given on how to print out the PDF file in the reduced size booklet format that is given. The CD must be inserted and remain in your CD drive each time you want to play the game, so there is constant accessing the CD. A much better solution would have been to have everything resident on your system.

It is just good value for the price. If you are willing to put up with the shortcomings, it provides good entertainment when needing something to do by yourself on your computer. You can select several levels of "Maven" expertise, when playing against the computer. This could be a great companion on a long plane, train, or bus trip.

Provision is made for you to play with several other players, via the Internet, but I have not tried that feature.

Scrabble game is fun, but
This edition of Scrabble is fun, but it is more limited than others I've used. There are contradictions, too. For example, the game recognizes some foreign language terms, but not others. I find its dictionary limited and the words you use to play the game are limited to those in the game's dictionary. It is fun to play and incorporates some animations, which adds to its value.