Scrabble is a game that has lasted over 70 years in various forms, and if you choose to download it on your Windows Mobile handset, you can't go wrong. You'll still be buying the basic game of forming words out of randomly drawn tiles, on a board that contains bonus multipliers. Real estate space is highly limited, though, which means you should brush up on those sneaky little words for the endgame.
On the Samsung Omnia II's touch screen, the controls are a bit awkward and needlessly complicated. You have to touch a square to move your view of the board, touch again to select it, touch a letter from your tray, and then touch once more to place the tile. Repeat for every letter in your word.
Scrabble offers different ways to play. You can challenge computer-controlled opponents; play a solo mode that seems terribly lonesome; or play a pass-and-play version where you must first teach your real-life opponent how to master the needlessly complicated controls before passing off the handset to take turns. Once you can move past these difficulties, the game itself provides infinite variety, making it a good, if somewhat cumbersome, desert island companion.
Scrabble for Windows Mobile doesn't have much in the way of graphical wizardry to dazzle or delight you. This version is just a simple board and a pouch full of lettered tiles. Unfortunately, there's no Scrabble dictionary to help you make some sense of the tiles in your hand--just a helpful hint that will let you know if the word you've tried to submit is illegal. However, the game does have a handy feature that lets you customize the length of your game if you prefer to play a quicker game with a specific point limit.
It's true, Scrabble isn't a mobile game with a lot of extra polish, nor does it realize the potential of the Windows Mobile platform. Still, aside from this lack of pizzazz and its clunky interface, it does a good job of reproducing the original concept--it's a full board game experience minus the hassle of picking up the pieces.
This review was provided by GameSpot mobile content partner SlideToPlay.com.
