I like playing Scrabble. There’s just something about manipulating letters to form words that I really enjoy. I started out playing Scrabble with flesh and blood opponents, complete with a Chambers dictionary, but later discovered the joys of playing it on-line. I could specify the length of the game, the terms I wanted for challenges etc. Nirvana.

I was quite content with this site for years, till I discovered Facebook last year. I knew there was a Scrabble application on there, but I wasn’t tempted in the least because it was called Scrabulous  or something along those lines. And that name did not appeal to the purist in me, not one bit. I read in the papers that there was a legal wrangling between the creators of Scrabulous and the owners of Scrabble, but I cared not a whit.

So there I was on Facebook minding my business (and that of others), when a notification came up that a friend of mine had scored x  number of points playing a certain word in Scrabble. I ignored it. Until the notifications got too many to ignore. I went to the application, just to take a look, and got hooked. Now a friend has threatened to remove me from her list of friends as notifications of my exploits are clogging up her news feed. When once asked by an opponent what I did for a living, I was oh so tempted to reply ‘Full time Scrabble player’, except for the fact that I did not want to encourage conversation. And thus I kept shtum. Not that I am rude, but it’s all about the game. A little less conversation, a little more action.

I like playing Scrabble on FB because you can have several games on the go simultaneously. The record for me was 16, I look forward to bettering this sometime soon. Sometimes players who are not my ‘friends’ realise I’m from their neck of the woods, and sure enough, a friend request follows shortly after the game. I always decline, because I belong to the school of thought that thinks you should at least have met someone, before adding him/her as a friend. Having said that, I did request and add someone, but her sister and I were friends growing up, many many years ago. So I have met her, although she was just a wee little lass then. You wouldn’t know it though by the way she regularly whups me.

The Scrabble application on FB gives one the option to nudge, skip or force the other player to forfeit the game if they run out of time, even if they are way ahead on points. I have been forced to forfeit so many times whilst playing 2-minute games that I have ruefully learned my lesson and now only play 1 day games. Because I understand that those options are there to be used, no matter how unfair they may seem.

Conversely, an opponent of mine sulked so much after I skipped his turn and went on and on about why he felt it was wrong, that I forfeited the game, and let him win. Afterall, it’s only a game.  Another one whined because I passed when it was my turn, and then went on to play a bingo. I mean. Seriously. It’s only a game folks, like a good friend of mine would say, ‘Get  over it!’

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