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
Play the new co-operative game Pandemic with tips from this how-to video (no, the game Pandemic has nothing to do with Valentines Day, but don't hearts and flowers always remind you of communicable diseases?). To play Pandemic, each player will have to draw a role card--you c ...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.
The holiday season is here, and if you didn't already pick up a SCRABBLE set during Black Friday or Cyber Monday, then you still have time to buy the perfect gift for your lexical-minded friend. There's sure to be deals out there over the next couple of weeks, you just need to ...more
Sitting in the dentist’s waiting room, I found I couldn’t browse the internet on my smartphone anymore. My eyes were tired from reading and there were no headphones to listen to music. There are no magazines at this dentist’s office, just an old TV playing Russian music videos ...more
Learn how to play chess with 2005 Missouri Scholastic Chess Champion Joseph Garnier. If you know nothing of the board game, then you might want to check out this video tutorial. Actually, you need to know a little bit about the game. You really need to know how to play chess, ...more
This video is about how to make characters for D&D the board game. This role playing game tutorial is made by Robert Beverly, D&D expert. Part 1 of 14 - How to Play Dungeons & Dragons. Play Dungeons & Dragons - Part 2 of 14. Click through to watch this video on expertvillage.c ...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
Learn the basics of the game, the chess board and piece positioning. These are the very basics you'll need to know to play chess.
It's sad to say, but I will no longer be writing up anymore Scrabble Challenges. Frankly, I just don't have the time to make them now. And though they are incredibly fun and "challenging" to conjure up, I'm not sure that people are finding them as useful as I had hoped. But re ...more
In this Games video tutorial you will learn how to play the Pente (Pentagon) marble game. It's a game of skill and strategy played on a 14" square hardwood game board. It can be comfortably played by 2 people or two teams. Teams do not have to be balanced (two against one, thr ...more
Zynga just added another game to their Zynga with Friends series called Scramble with Friends. If you've ever played Boggle, it's basically the same thing, but is dedicated to playing your buddies just like Words with Friends or Hanging with Friends. Chances are you've alread ...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
SCRABBLE. I miss it. That idiosyncratic smell of cardboard, cheap wood and plastic that rushes out when I remove the box's cover. The instant gratification of unfolding the board into the sweet spot of the table, smoothing it out into the perfect receptacle for a heated battl ...more
My JO was watching The Simpsons on FOX the other day, like she wholeheartedly does every evening, and I joined her, much like I always do— though I must admit, I'm not as obsessed with the cartoon family as much as she is. Just like she isn't as obsessed with SCRABBLE as I am. ...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
Math skills and strategic planning are essential to winning this ancient African game. You Will Need * A mancala game board * Two players * 48 game pieces – or, "stones" Step 1: Set up Place the mancala board lengthwise between two players and put four stones in each of the 1 ...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
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
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
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
The concept of Scrabble and Words with Friends is the same—play words, score points, win. But the games require different strategy in terms of letter placement, premium squares, tile point values and word choices. Here's the main differences between the two games. Scrabble ha ...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
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
Fantasize about role playing? One of the most popular venues for role playing medieval fantasy is the board game, Dungeons and Dragons. Get a group of three or four together and have a blast! You Will Need: • A Dungeons and Dragons group • A Player's Handbook • Pencil and ...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
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
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
Great controls are the most important and difficult part of game design. Games with vector graphics and non-existent stories are classics because their creators managed to create a system where using buttons to control a shape on a screen was intuitive and fun. This is the tra ...more
Via WonderHowTo World, SCRABBLE: Dirty SCRABBLE. Everybody likes to play dirty, but we're not talking bluffing with fake words or closing up the board—we're talking actual "dirty" and offensive words. Despite the exclusion of offensive words in the bowdlerized Official SCRAB ...more
Dirty SCRABBLE. Everybody likes to play dirty, but we're not talking bluffing with fake words or closing up the board—we're talking actual "dirty" and offensive words. Despite the exclusion of offensive words in the bowdlerized Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary (OSPD), the ...more
n this video series, Melissa Schenk explains how to play the board game Abalone. Part 1 of 12 - How to Play Abalone. Play Abalone - Part 2 of 12. Click through to watch this video on expertvillage.com Play Abalone - Part 3 of 12. Click through to watch this video on expertvill ...more
In this video, Melissa Schenk explains how to play the board game Mancala and goes over the different strategies you can use inclulding: hoard, stall, rush, stuff the board and loop the board. Part 1 of 15 - How to Use strategies when playing Mancala. Use strategies when playi ...more
In this video series you will learn several game ideas that don't involve a board, dice or cards and can be played by any group virtually anywhere. They can give you and your group or party hours of entertainment and possibly help you design your own game to play in the future ...more
Check out this how-to video for a discussion of the card strategy game, Mystery Rummy Case #1 with its designer, Mike Fitzgerald. Mystery Rummy Case #1 is a two to four player game. Take a look at these Mystery Rummy cards! If you like games like Monopoly, Risk, Stratego, Dun ...more
Backgammon, a classic game for two players, is won by rolling dice in order to remove playing pieces from the game board. Luck of the dice plays a large role in winning the race to remove game pieces. Much like checkers or chess, there are tournaments worldwide. Part 1 of 15 - ...more
In this video series you will learn several game ideas that don't involve a board, dice or cards and can be played by any group virtually anywhere. They can give you and your group or party hours of entertainment and possibly help you design your own game to play in the future ...more
The thrill and excitement of great tourism generally requires visitors to take part in the country's local fare in person. But Air New Zealand's new augmented reality experience for the Magic Leap One gives visitors an immersive taste of what the country has to offer without e ...more
People fear virtual reality will isolate us, but the right experience can prove it does the opposite. AltspaceVR is a virtual world you can utilize to chat with others around the world, but that's not all. You can also play card and board games, a game of laser tag, or a song ...more
We continue to field stories underscoring the strong trends of Investment in augmented reality in various sectors. This week, one company strengthens their offerings to the enterprise sector, while two other companies capitalize on the promise presented by augmented reality to ...more
Phone specs get better and better each year, and multiplayer mobile games are right there with them. Instead of playing solo, jump into some real-time gameplay with co-op and player vs. player modes, and battle friends, family, and strangers from around the world. But which mu ...more
The biggest problem with having a lot of gaming systems lying around the house is the clutter. Each device has several cables and adapters that need to be plugged in somewhere and it could leave your gaming area look something like this... Not a pretty sight, huh? Well, thank ...more
Word games can expand your vocabulary skills in all sorts of exciting and creative ways. Because of this, both the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store are awash with word games, making it hard to differentiate between good and bad titles. This is especially troublesome if ...more
Even for those of us who enjoy spending time alone at home, at a certain point, it just gets boring. We all need social interaction, but with stay-at-home orders, that can be hard to come by. If you're feeling the itch to hang out with friends and have a good time, you should ...more
Pyrit is one of the most powerful WPA/WPA2 cracking tools in a hacker's arsenal, with the ability to benchmark a computer's CPU speeds, analyze capture files for crackable handshakes, and even tap into GPU password-cracking power. To demonstrate how quickly it can hack a WPA/W ...more
Most mobile games have moved to an online-only format, meaning you need to be connected to the Internet in order to get any kind of multiplayer action going. This is great when you're at home on Wi-Fi, but when you're out and about, slow and inconsistent data speeds can cause ...more
After parting ways with Papa John's, the National Football League has drafted Pizza Hut as its official pizza purveyor, and the company has hit the field with an augmented reality game to entertain hungry football fans. After scanning specially marked pizza boxes using the Be ...more
With the emergence of rumors that Amazon, Google, and Samsung are all making their foray into the gaming console market, it's a possibility that our Android-powered mobile devices might become tools that play a central role. As we proceed through 2014, we'll see inklings of w ...more
I am an English major physically allergic to all algebraic formulas, so you're unlikely to get any help from me when it comes to solving any expressions. But in the glorious technological age we live in, there are plenty of apps that actually make math and problem solving fun, ...more
SCRABBLE. To some it's just a game, but to me it's life or death. Well, not really, but it feels that way anyway. On a normal weekend, a game becomes much like Jon Thomas' "friendly game of death Scrabble." Video: . When I'm playing a game of SCRABBLE, my friends are not frien ...more
Now that Chromecast has taken the title of top-selling media streaming device and held onto it for well over a year, game developers absolutely have to take Google's $35 streaming stick seriously. As a result, we're starting to see big-time media and game companies throw their ...more
If you made a resolution for 2020 to get healthier, it's essential to concentrate on your mental health just as much as you do on physical fitness. Running and exercising is great, but a sound mind is integral to a healthy and balanced life, and you can improve your emotional ...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
WENDIGO n pl. -GOS windigo 62 points (12 points without the bingo) The WENDIGO (or WINDIGO) is a malevolent creature from the mythology of the Algonquian, one of the most populous and widespread Native American language groups, which includes such tribes as the Innu, Ojibwe, ...more
CARRION n pl. -S dead and putrefying flesh 59 points (9 points without the bingo) The word CARRION refers to the dead and putrefying flesh on the carcass of any dead animal. Yes… humans are animals. Carrion differs from plain old dead bodies (cadavers, corpses, LICH, etc.) b ...more
Wordle has been popping up all over in the app stores, but none of them are the real Wordle. The popular word game app has amassed two million users since its launch in November 2021 but has no plans to hit the iOS App Store or Play Store any time soon — but you can still inst ...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
This year's big iPhone update, iOS 12, aims to solve many of the issues that arose during iOS 11's controversial, buggy tenure. With that in mind, it may be tempting to jump on board the new software immediately and leave iOS 11 in the dust for good. Here are some reasons why ...more