Wordscraper

Wordscraper is a Scrabble-style word game available as a Facebook application. It was created by the Agarwalla brothers Rajat and Jayant, creators of Scrabulous, and differs from Scrabble by having no fixed board design or tile distribution, instead prompting the user to choose their own.

Although reported as being released in response a DMCA action against Scrabulous by Hasbro,^[1] the game has been online since January 2008.^[2]

Game customisation

Wordscraper allows users to create a customised board and tile set of their choice. Users choose where premium squares are placed on the board. Premium squares range from 2x to 5x letter score and 2x to 5x word score. Users can also choose the tile distribution including quantity of each letter and score for each letter. It is possible to recreate the copyrighted Scrabble board layout using this process.

Users are free to share the rules they have created via a link by clicking 'Share Game' at the bottom of the playing board.

Differences from Scrabulous

In addition to the ability to create customised games, Wordscraper differs from Scrabulous in a number of ways including:

Tiles and 'squares' are now circular.
Premium 'squares' have been recoloured.
The distribution of tiles can be modified.
Tiles have no scores marked on them.
The tile distribution can be viewed within the game.
Blank tiles are not included.

User base

As of 4 September 2008^[update], Wordscraper has attracted over 260,000 active users.

References

^ "Scrabulous Reborn as Wordscraper (Sort Of)". Sitepoint. 2007-08-01. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/08/01/scrabulous-reborn-as-wordscraper-sort-of/" ignored (help)
^ "On Facebook, an 11-Letter Synonym for Scrabulous Turns Out to Be Wordscraper". New York Times. 2008-04-04. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/technology/04scrabble.html?_r= ignored (help)

External links

Wordscraper application on facebook

[Sitepoint-1] "Scrabulous Reborn as Wordscraper (Sort Of)". Sitepoint. 2007-08-01. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/08/01/scrabulous-reborn-as-wordscraper-sort-of/" ignored (help)

[New_York_Times-2] "On Facebook, an 11-Letter Synonym for Scrabulous Turns Out to Be Wordscraper". New York Times. 2008-04-04. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/technology/04scrabble.html?_r= ignored (help)

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