Computer Scrabble - Personal Computer News 16

Computer: Spectrum 48K
Price: £15.95 (Cassette)
Publisher: Psion
Reviewer: Max Phillips
Rating: 3/5

Numb's The Word

It's man versus machine. In one corner, the humble human, confidence shattered. In the order, the amazing 48K Spectrum, winning at Scrabble.

This really is genuine Scrabble, played not just adequately by aggressively by a computer. It's an amazing program to watch and use, even if you can't stand the game.

Objectives

Just like the real thing, the idea is to score the most points by building up a crossword on the playing board. Up to four people can play, any one or all of which can be the computer. Besides four skill levels, the computer also acts as an automatic board, tile bag and scorer.

First Impressions

When you've got a program this good, you'd expect professional presentation. It is... complete with presentation box, labelled cassette, genuine Scrabble logos and a ten-page booklet.

Instructions are divided nearly into two sections... Scrabble-the-game and Scrabble-the-program. They follow the box-lid tradition of presenting lots of info in a concise and clear manner.

The program's not bad either. There's a faithful reproduction of the board and a simple, consistent, foolproof user interface. Little things, like the option to use a black and white television, add to the impression of professionalism.

Just a couple of barrel-scrapers. You can't fit either 'Spectrum' or 'Computer' in as the name of the Computer's player. And you've no way of interrupting an all-computer game. Believe me, you'd think twice about pulling the plug and reloading this one.

Computer Scrabble caters for most of the real game. You can view your rack, reorder or change letters. A "juggle" option even imitates the absent-minded shuffling of your letters. There's access to information such as the symbols for premium squares, letter values and distribution, as well as running scores and a count of remaining tiles.

When the computer is playing, you can optionally see it "thinking". You can see it shuffle its rack and make trial attempts at placing its works. If this isn't running as a demo in WHSmiths et al within weeks, I'll eat my Spectrum.

In Play

Computer Scrabble plays a good game. Almost too good. We simple hacks take a pride in knowing the odd word or two. It isn't that rewarding to have the plastic nasty fighting back. Game two, level four, I start with "Creel". It plays "Coze" with the Z on a triple letter square. 35 points.

Response times are superb. Level one is around three seconds. Level four is around a minute. It sounds frustrating but it's a lot quicker than I can manage.

There are a few differences from the human version. For starters, it's hard to fiddle with your rack in your head inbetween turns. And you're playing in full view of the opposition. There's a tendency for three human players to club together to beat the computer.

Having the racks on view might be a problem. If you're such a good player that knowing what the other guy has got is an advantage, then be warned. And yes, you can't see what the Spectrum's got unless its "thinking" option is on.

The Spectrum checks your words when you place them. If it's not in its seemingly endless 11,000 word dictionary, it challenges.

If you tell it the word is okay, it trusts you. If you've tried to cheat or simply mistyped the word, you lose your go. I know that's in the real rules. but most of the time, a long face can convince three human players to let you try again.

But the most annoying feature is that you can't challenge it. I don't mind "Id", "En", "Em", "Re" and so on. But I'm not keen on its love of "Ta" as a word. Oi, now hang on a mo. If we're going to play dirty, there's all sorts of colloquialisms, exclamations and so on I could come up with. Scrabble is an awful game for causing arguments and divorces among people. And here I am arguing with a computer.

To place your word, you use the arrow keys to move a cursor to the square you want to start on. Then you press 'A' or 'D', depending on whether the word is run across or down. You can type the word, the Spectrum automatically filling in any letters you cross already on the board.

The Spectrum displays the word and its score. You've then got the option to place it or not. This is great... you can try out words and have their scores calculated for you. It saves a fair amount of strain on your mental faculties.

Verdict

Well, there goes another game. Prey to the microchip revolution. Scrabble on a computer, particularly a �130 computer, sounds impossible enough. But Dr. Peter Turcan, Little Genius and Psion software have done it and I doubt if anyone else will bother with producing their own version.

If you like Scrabble, then you shouldn't miss this one. Even if you can't stand computers, a dedicated and tireless opponent is worth the price of a Spectrum.

If you don't like Scrabble, don't be taken in by the fancy graphics. Being thrashed by this thing is a lot less pleasant than losing to your little sister. Psion has a real winner. On a triple word square.

Rating

Lasting Appeal 4/5
Playability 4/5
Use Of Machine 4/5
Overall Value 3/5