I love scrabble. . .both my wife and daughter don't. So I have cut a deal.

If I am ever diagnosed with a terminal disease, from the time of the diagnosis until my passing, they have to play scrabble with me any time I want.

1. I hope it ever comes to that.
2. If it does, I am predicting they weasel out of it somehow.

I also love Scrabble. How can these ideas be translated to Scrabble? And, short of just giving points, how else can you handicap it?

thanks for the link seanyboy, this is great. from my not-terribly-deep RPG experience it seems as if they're adapting some of the more addictive elements of roleplaying games - perhaps its the 'random' element that can make stuff like D&D so compelling.

my guy and I have recently become chess addicts, and since we've both dabbled in RPGs it'd be a cinch to add a twist to the 2D standard.

This is a nifty blog, and that entry shows an incredibly sophisticated approach to game analysis. It's something I've given a little thought to, having designed a couple of educational simulation games (real-time, not computer-based). Isolating game elements that change power structures or introduce randomness gets you into some very flexible territory.

My family and I have long enjoyed our discussions about a better, harder version of Clue, in which the mansion has three floors, and more characters (like a Catholic priest) and additional information categories (such as motives) are added. It would depend far more on logical deduction and less on elimination.

I've played a version of Scrabble with friends which we called 'jungle rules'. Basically, you could put down phrases or made-up words, and then you had to justify them. THe two I remember passing muster were "Hairswept" (defense: like "windswept," only by long hair) and "Vikingden" (where Vikings retreat when not pillaging anything). This version was highly silly and subjective and I wouldn't really be able to codify any rules - it was just a relaxation of the standard Scrabble rigidity, more focused on getting rid of tiles in any way marginally feasible.