Like the press covering film and many other specialized fields, video game journalists use all sorts of jargon to convey to their knowledgable readers as much information about a game as quickly as possible. For non or newbie gamers, this can be extremely confusing. Those of ...more
Ok, so you've memorized the list of valid 2-letter words, but when challenged after playing one, can you smugly demonstrate your dominating intellect by spouting out the proper definition? If you're anything like me, chances are you'll find yourself babbling something defensi ...more
No matter what word game you're playing, whether it's Scrabble or one of its near-homogeneous counterparts like Lexulous, Wordfeud or Words with Friends, one of the easiest ways to stay on top of your opponent is knowing all of the legal two-letter words you can play. You're n ...more
For too long the family refrigerator has had to endure a boring existence. Merely a place to store food and the occasional family photo, its place as an enduring destination for family entertainment has been overlooked for too long! The Homemade Game Guru hosts this video tut ...more
Marble Push is a marble game resembling Abalone in which the objective is to crowd six of your opponent's marbles off of a hexagonal marble board. Lose your marbles with this lovely & ludicrously ludic lesson.
Backgammon is played on a board with 24 triangles called points, the board it's divided in 4 quadrants and it's separate, 2 for one player and 2 for another player. At the beginning of the game each player have 15 checkers that is placed on the quadrant the player owns, each p ...more
From Major Nelson, Xbox 360's spokeperson: Kinect Pricing: Existing Xbox 360 owners can purchase Kinect and Kinect Adventures for $149.99 (U.S. ERP). Remember, Kinect will work with every Xbox 360 ever made. Xbox 360 4GB Console: The new Xbox 360 4GB Console includes built i ...more
The object of Peg Solitaire is to finish the game with only one peg remaining on the board, preferably in the center hole. You can remove a peg by jumping over it with another peg. Only certain jumps are legal: you must jump horizontally or vertically, and you can jump only on ...more
In a recent episode of The Big Bang Theory, character Sheldon Cooper designed a highly complicated three-person game of chess, with an odd-shaped nonagon board and two new pieces—serpent and old woman. Seemingly pioneering, in truth, three-player chess has been around since th ...more
Othello, also known as Reversi, is played with two players, each representing a color on the board. The rules are simple, but strategy is what will help you win. Watch this video to learn how to play Othello or Reversi. You Will Need * An Othello board * 64 reversible discs ...more
Last weekend the 2011 World Scrabble Championship was held at the Hilton Hotel in Warsaw, Poland. There were 106 players competing from 44 countries for the $20,000 first place prize and title of World Scrabble Champion. Players spend years mastering their Scrabble skills in ...more
Learn how to perform the basic moves with the Wii Balance Board TM on Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip! for the Nintendo Wii. This is the basic controls tutorial for playing Shaun White Snowboarding using the Wii Balance Board. This is the same control from the Wii Fit game ...more
It's been a great year for video games, kind of. Sure, the AAA release lineup has been a trainwreck and hacking has been a bigger problem than ever. But two things have happened involving the federal government that have made video games more legitimate in the United States th ...more
Expand on your knowledge! Trivial Pursuit is a great family game that can also teach you a lot in the process! If you want to learn how to play, check out this video. Stimulate your intellect with a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit. Follow these game rules to start the contest ...more
In this video, you will be walked through the game Foreign Creature. There are human characters in this one, with word clouds, in an office setting with bulletin board, desks, rolling shelves, and tack boards. In another scene of the game, you will see a hospital setting with ...more
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to do the "Out of Beverly Hills" glitch on the video game, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. Users will need to have the low gravity option turned on. There are several ways to do this glitch. Begin by going on top of a roof with a ramp. ...more
This how-to video describes how to play the game Minesweeper. To begin, simply click anywhere on the board; the narrator suggests the corner out of personal preference. If you remove a group of squares with a single click you can begin working on flagging mines, but otherwise ...more
These two videos focus on analyzing chess positions, and generating candidate move orders from the position without moving the pieces or using computer analysis. The goal is to improve the ability to generate lines and variations mentally during a game, and to try to come up w ...more
Before last Sunday I hadn't been to a proper game store since I was in middle school. Over ten years ago. If you decide to stop reading right now because I obviously don't care enough about MTG to be writing this thing, I don't blame you. But I tell you, friends, as someone wh ...more
In this tutorial, we learn how to fix an Xbox 360 Phillips Benq Drive. First, you will open up the broken drive using a Philips head screw driver. Next, desolder the chip from the broken drive with a soldering iron. After you do this, you will be able to slide out the motherbo ...more
What's the highest score you ever achieved in one SCRABBLE game? 500? 600? 700? I think Plantation, Florida resident Robert Kahn has you beat. On March 3rd at the Lauderhill, FL SCRABBLE Club #276, Kahn scored an impressive 801 points. Amazingly, he did not break the record f ...more
Lost you playing caerds? Have no fear. If you're reading this chances are you have Internet access, which is all you need to play Spider solataire online. See how quickly you can make your cards disappear. Follow these steps for a fun, yet challenging, solitaire computer game. ...more
What's your highest scoring game of Scrabble? Since starting this Scrabble World, I've been able to break 500 points on a regular basis. This year I've even managed to break the 600-point barrier a couple times. If you ask me, that's a pretty hefty sum to score in one game, b ...more
In our media-enriched world, past and present, SCRABBLE has made a name for itself, whether deliberately, subconsciously, or influentially. You may have a read a book that had the popular word game within a chapter, watched a movie that showed your favorite characters bringing ...more
If you look up the word SAWBUCK in the SCRABBLE Dictionary, you'd see that it was a sawhorse, but there's another definition that we're all probably more familiar with: SAWBUCK n pl. -S a $10 bill (informal) So, 8,000 sawbucks equals $80,000, and that's exactly what Sonya Gl ...more
There are a lot of fantastic video games out there. Indie Games Ichiban's bread and butter is making sure that you steer clear of the bad ones and embrace the good. But really, the biggest goal here is to help everyone have more fun. To that end, today a game is not recommende ...more
When I heard that a man wearing a pink wig and matching PVC dress won the 2010 National Scrabble Championship yesterday, I wasn't that shocked. After all, it was Halloween. But it turns out that it wasn't just a Halloween costume. In fact, it's a way of life for this champion ...more
Impress your friends by actually knowing what to do with those darts—other than winging them toward the wall—next time you're at a bar. You Will Need * A dart board * At least 3 darts * 2-5 players * A dart board * At least 3 darts * 2-5 players Step 1: Find a dart board Go ...more
There are tons of mobile apps out there for the gaming logophile, but there's a new word building game taking over iPhones and iPads, and it not only wants you to have fun, it wants you to fight back in the "war against words". It's the Word Examination Laboratory for Dynamic ...more
For as long as I've loved SCRABBLE, I can't believe I've never come across this before. "CRAZIEST" - A short story by Liz Dubelman about words and numbers as a religion (think Pi), about SCRABBLE being the oracle, about her quest for the "triple-triple". This spoke words to m ...more
In these weekly Scrabble Challenges, so far we've covered two-letter words, double bingos, high scoring moves, triple-triples, last moves, parallel plays, phoneys and opening moves. For this week's puzzle, we're revisiting the strategy for opening moves. It's said that the pl ...more
This video shows how to make a small scale Hobbit's hole. This example is for the Lord of the Rings game, but you can use this in your dioramas too. Use a yogurt container, a piece of board, and then decorate it however you want. Watch this instructional video and learn how to ...more
If you haven't noticed yet, I've started dishing out some "Scrabble Bingo of the Day" articles that showcase interesting and somewhat unusual seven-letter words (or longer) that could give you an extra 50-point bonus on the board, as long as you empty your rack. So, for this w ...more
Angry Birds might be the most visible video game franchise in the world today. It has sold 100 million units, as many as all the Sims games put together. It has been incorporated into board games, birthday cakes, and Israeli sketch comedy shows. And yet, this piece of seeming ...more
Three years ago, Double Fine productions held an in-house event called the Amnesia Fortnight. The company was split into four teams, each of which set out to spend two weeks developing an idea for a small game and present it to the other groups at the end of the duration. All ...more
This is my fourth (and final) installment on SCRABBLE adverts. I'm sure there's a lot I haven't found, but that's for another day. But this post features all of the remaining SCRABBLE advertisements (prints and posters) that haven't already been listed in my previous posts: O ...more
Last week's challenge brought up a good question (thanks Lisa) regarding the functionality of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, both online and in print form. The word TACTICAL was the answer to the first puzzle in that challenge, but when you search for t ...more
As much as I love Scrabble, the iPhone and Android versions of the game are just not as much fun or as fast paced as Words with Friends. I play both, but I'm most active on Zynga's version of the mobile word game because it's quicker to make moves, doesn't take as long to upda ...more
Bluffing is one of the key components of poker. You may have a horrible hand, but if you can play it cool and raise the bet, you might just be able to convince your opponents otherwise and induce a few folds. But if you can't handle a little subterfuge, then you shouldn't be p ...more
We all remember the controversy of SCRABBLE Trickster back in April. SCRABBLE + Mattel + Proper Nouns = BLASPHEMY! Some thought it was just a PR hoax, something to rattle the bones of diehard SCRABBLE players, like myself. Others thought it was an April Fools' Day joke. But ...more
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to play marble pyramid. This is a 2 player game. Each player has 15 marbles. Players simply take turns placing the marbles onto the field. When 4 marbles form a square, a player is able to place a marble in the center to raise the marb ...more
The end game is a very important aspect of playing Scrabble. If you have just a few letters left on your rack and there are none left in the draw bag, but you're currently losing the game, you still might have a chance to win if you play your cards (er… tiles) right. No matter ...more
Hello, my name is Nicole Valentine and on behalf of Expert Village, I'm here to talk to you about how to coordinate birthday games for a birthday party. Now let's talk about another group activity game. Competition game that is. If you have let's say maybe 20 people in your gu ...more
If you've checked out my SCRABBLE World, you may have read "How Controversy Changed SCRABBLE". In that case, you know that the word JEW is not allowed in regular play, because it was deemed an offensive and obscene word. JEW v JEWED, JEWING, JEWS to bargain with—an offensive ...more
If you've read my blog "How Controversy Changed SCRABBLE", then you know that the word JEW is not allowed in regular play, because it was deemed an offensive and obscene word. JEW v JEWED, JEWING, JEWS to bargain with—an offensive term But this coming July, it will no longer ...more
A recent study in Canada concluded that competitive Scrabble players are twenty percent faster than non-Scrabble players at identifying real words on a Scrabble rack. In light of this news, this week's challenge is actually just a game of Scrabble Sprint from Pogo.com. See ho ...more
Neither Chinese nor checkers, Chinese checkers is a fun game to play. Watch this video to learn how to play Chinese checkers. You Will Need * Two to six players * A Chinese checkers board * 10 colored pegs per player Step 1. Select a player to go first Choose a color and s ...more
Everyone loves Scrabble, but not everyone knows how to play the game properly. Yes, there is a set up rules that come with each game, but who actually wants to read them? Isn't it better to learn from a more visual approach? This video will teach you the basics of gameplay. I ...more
This video demonstrates a project taken from "Make" magazine. Viewers will learn how to modify an ordinary computer mouse with a vibration unit for use with PC games, similar to the rumble controllers sold for video-game consoles, to make gaming more fun. Step by step, the vi ...more
Each year on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, Ashbourne becomes a war zone! The majority of the ablebodied men, women and children take to the streets to play what is probally the largets football game in the world! - The two teams number in the hundreds, and the palying fiel ...more
A phoney word in a game of Scrabble is basically a non-valid word, either played or considered being played. Why? To fool the other player and go from losing to winning. It's perfectly acceptable in Scrabble play, but only if you don't get caught. If the other player challenge ...more
There are two types of Scrabble players in the world—those who enjoy it and those who love it. I definitely fall into the latter category. Unfortunately, most of my friends don't. I'm lucky to have a few who simply enjoy it from time to time—some are even standing on the edge ...more
Learn how to never lose at tic-tac-toe. Almost anyone knows how to play tic-tac-toe, but not everyone knows the strategy that guarantees they'll never lose another game. You Will Need * An opponent * A pencil or pen * Paper Step 1. Draw a tic-tac-toe board Draw your tic-ta ...more
Three years ago, Scrabble was one of the very first 500 mobile applications to appear on the new iTunes App Store, allowing iPhone users the chance to kill their Scrabble cravings on the go. It was a smart move for Hasbro and Electronic Arts (EA), but it's been two years and e ...more
The 2011 Toronto International Scrabble Open (TOSI) took place last weekend, with former World Champion Adam Logan beating out all of the human competition for the $3,000 grand prize. But when it came time to take on the Quackle program in the Human vs. Computer Showdown, he l ...more
SCRABBLE: 14 points; GRAFFITI: 15 points; MARRIAGE: 11 points; YES: 6 points. When playing a game of Scrabble, those are the minimal amount of points for each of the given words (not including blank tiles). But for 28-year-old Jeff Gurwin, it's more than just 46 points on the ...more
Whether you're rooting for one of the teams or just love a contest, a pool will have you cheering. You will need: a poster board a marker a ruler a few pens participants scissors scrap paper a hat or bowl a photocopier a computer printer (optional) an actual interest in footba ...more
Some say Nigel Richards is to SCRABBLE what Garry Kasparov is to chess, but that doesn't make him perfect. The New Zealender lost on Sunday to Pakistani scrabble champion Muhammad Sulaiman, in the Malta International Scrabble Open Championship 2010, played in Qawra, Malta (So ...more
WonderHowTo World LEGO People points us to an amazing chess set made with LEGO Star Wars characters. LEGO fanatic Brandon Griffith of Hollywood, CA, plans to build three different chess sets, one per each original episode. Pictured below is his first completed set, Star Wars: ...more
There's nothing better than playing a game of Scrabble, feeling the smooth wooden tiles in your hand and savoring the heavy fumes of cardboard, cheap wood and plastic as you rearrange the letters on your rack into the perfect word. You try to keep a straight face while you wat ...more