Ship of Fools: Scrabble Clubs

Thread: Scrabble Clubs Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Tulfes (# 18000) on :

I'm really keen on playing scrabble, but I don't have any friends or family who are interested. I am thinking of maybe joining a scrabble club and wondered if anyone has any experience of such? Are they generally friendly to new(ish) players? How good do you have to be to participate? Do other members get easily annoyed if you are slow or just not very good? Are members sorted into different levels of aptitude/ experience so as to enhance the general enjoyment? Did/do you enjoy the experience of playing with strangers who share your interest in the game? Anything else? Thanks in anticipation.

Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :

quote:
I'm really keen on playing scrabble, but I don't have any friends or family who are interested.

Just as an observation, but yeah, it does tend to be hard to find people who are into Scrabble.

My own theory is that this is because the game points to things outside of its own internal workings, eg. when you spell the word "dog", you have to think about both the word and the thing itself, both of which take you mentally away from the board in front of you.

Whereas with chess, for example, you can play a whole game without once having to think about anything besides the pieces on the board(well, you might also think about established chess strategies based on those pieces, but that's hardly a chasmic leap). I suspect that for most board-game players, this disconnection from the real world is part of the appeal, hence the lack of interest in Scrabble.

I haven't taken any polls or anything, but I do have a number of friends who are really into chess and similar games, but who recoil in something like near-horror when I suggest playing Scrabble.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

We had a lunchtime Scrabble club at work for a while which I didn't join, but I knew the organizer and it seemed a very friendly, welcoming group. Games were usually won by one person who had an extraordinary vocabulary and went on to play in local championships, but disputes were resolved amicably. (You need to agree on what dictionary you're going to use before you start.)

As it was a small work group it wasn't sorted into levels of ability, people just came to play and had fun.

Posted by Darllenwr (# 14520) on :

Have you considered the possibilities of on-line Scrabble games? I know that St Gwladys is a regular player of on-line Scrabble - it might be worth dropping her a P.M. for details of how to get involved.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

Words With Monsters is a very good little app (also available for the iPad) to keep your hand in.

Posted by Mrs Shrew (# 8635) on :

Granny Shrew used to play at a scrabble club at a local library. She reported it was friendly and welcoming of all.

Might be worth looking into nearby libraries or pubs as a source of a club?

Posted by Alberto (# 18075) on :

I found "in real life" SCrabble clubs a bit creepy....I do enjoy Word Biz which is a very good two player app with timed games.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

I joined one at the local library, but found the same person won every time because she had memorised the 'Official Scrabble Words' book. A very, very, very long tome! She had no idea what the obscure words meant, just that she could use them to be unbeatable.

Now, I play in a wonderful u3a Scrabble group, where we play for fun and friendly competition (not to mention ace coffee and biscuits), as well as playing some slow and leisurely online games with some RL friends.

It was much harder to find a group to play in when I was younger - many are retirement groups, so meet midweek. Others are for extremely keen, national contest finalist standard - would have been waaaay too high powered for me!

Posted by OddJob (# 17591) on :

Hope you find a suitable club, and opponents to challenge but not humiliate you.

I've never won a game of Scrabble, other than when playing my alternative 'Silly Scrabble' version, where double points are awarded for slang, proper nouns and abbreviations.

Posted by The Rogue (# 2275) on :

I've heard about some Scrabble clubs where the atmosphere is very serious and doesn't sound at all fun. I content myself by playing the Words with Friends app against about a dozen Facebook friends. I win some and lose some.

Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :

After a lifetime of playing cards together, my son and I discovered Scrabble a few years ago and we like it so much better. It's such a fine two person game and we match well because I, having lived longer, have a bigger vocabulary but can't spell as well as he can. We're learning together, just now getting to the point where we really use our high point letters to the best advantage and even think ahead defensively. I think it's a great game with more opportunities to have fun and laugh than cards. And I love cards.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

I'd say it was at least 40 years since I last played actual Scrabble with tiles and a board, but over the last wee while I've become quite addicted to online Scrabble Blast, a solo game with three rounds and unlimited letters per word, as long as they're adjacent (and it's a word!).

Posted by Meerkat (# 16117) on :

There is an App called 'Words with Friends' which I use a lot against several friends. Just like Scrabble!

Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Meerkat:
There is an App called 'Words with Friends' which I use a lot against several friends. Just like Scrabble!

That's the one I got introduced too, and I'm going to have to give it up for Lent.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
I'd say it was at least 40 years since I last played actual Scrabble with tiles and a board, but over the last wee while I've become quite addicted to online Scrabble Blast, a solo game with three rounds and unlimited letters per word, as long as they're adjacent (and it's a word!).

Piglet, I'm holding you responsible for wherever the last hour went. 546 and I'm just going to have one more go before I, um, probably have another.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

I've found 'Scrabble Mattel' and 'Lexulous' to be better online, not least because 'Words with Friends' requires you to reveal your friends list and I prefer to keep mine private.

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