Scrabble Express Handheld

by Hasbro

Product Features

• A take-everywhere version of the classic crossword game
• Features four different Scrabble games, 9 skill levels, a searchable dictionary with more than 100,000 words, built-in scorekeeper and letter shuffler
• Includes 3 "AAA" batteries

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00004TJUM
• Our recommended age: 8 years and up
• Manufacturer recommended age: 10 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #109,194 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)

Product Description

Editorial Review

This electronic handheld version of Scrabble, the classic word game, will help long train commutes or plane journeys pass more quickly. With four games to choose from (two that accommodate two players) and the ability to determine the computer's intelligence, the same game isn't likely to happen twice. Bad: when you raise the computer's IQ level, it uses words like "padri" and "Varna." Good: it accepts words like "vibrio" and "bize." Sound can be turned off, and, if not in use for more than a minute, the game goes to sleep to conserve the three AA batteries (included). --Pam Lauer

Product Description

A take-everywhere version of the classic crossword game! Features four different Scrabble games, 9 skill levels, a searchable dictionary with more than 100,000 words, built-in scorekeeper and letter shuffler! Includes 3 "AAA" batteries.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 142 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm hooked., March 17, 2001

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Scrabble Express Handheld (Toy)

The game is enjoyable. The sculpted case is a pleasure to hold. The computer's word list is vast, but disallows obscene words. New AAA batteries last for months. I'm hooked on the game, and believe I've gotten more than my money's worth. But potential buyers should know the following;

When the computer player has two blank tiles, it can take more than 40 minutes to come up with a word.

Certain racks of letters appear again and again in the same letter order. This suggests a lack of true randomness.

There seems to be a "vowel shortage" in the game. I was getting tired of seeing the one-of-a-kind letters Q, X, Z, K, and J showing up so often, so I ran two two-player games to quantify the effect. I exchanged the entire letter rack for each turn. Rare letters should have come up 5% of the time, but they appeared 14%. Vowels, including Y, should have come up 42%, but they only appeared 21%.

When exchanging an entire rack of consonants, it is annoyingly common to have Z's, Q's, etc. reappearing instantly.

All in all, Scrabble Express is a great toy to play with while traveling or listening to the radio. If the manufacturer is reading this, please include a way to access the machine's word list in future versions. A feature like that would be helpful in normal Scrabble games.

148 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fun diversion, with some weaknesses, December 3, 2000

By 

J. Cowling (Victoria, BC Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Scrabble Express Handheld (Toy)

I'd been hoping that with the recent influx of new electronic hand-held games on the market, that Hasbro would release a Scrabble game. Naturally, when they did, I was the first on my block to pick one up.

While an entertaining diversion -- and it is definitely entertaining -- the game has some weaknesses. The AI cheats, and obviously. When the game is set on IQ level 1 (the lowest), the human player will be given an assortment of easy-to-play letters, with ample vowels and regular blanks. At the highest level (IQ 9), the human player will get very few vowels and will almost never see a blank. This isn't an increase in the machine's playing skill, but rather a handicap for the player -- although the computer's vocabulary and playing skill is better at higher levels, I would have preferred a better AI system rather than the arbitrary handicap. The menus are a little hard to navigate, too.

The game's 9x9 board (as opposed to Scrabble's 15x15 board) makes it necessary to learn new strategies. Boards are often filled with words very early in the game, and play will seem much more cramped than in a traditional game of Scrabble. This doesn't detract at all from the fun, and helps build strategic thinking for the real game.

At the lowest level, Scrabble Express is a great game for kids. At the toughest level, the machine is hard to beat, even for seasoned veterans such as myself.

The machine has four games: in addition to the 8-turn basic game (Scrabble Express), there is also a shortened 5-turn game, a "racing game" where players try to beat the clock to get the best words, and a "one liner" game where each player tries to make the best score using a single rack of tiles on a field of two crossed words.

All games (except for the racing game) are playable with two players. And what's best is that the game comes pre-loaded with the 3 AAA batteries needed to run the machine.

If you're looking for serious computer Scrabble, I have to recommend the computer game (also by Hasbro) but Scrabble Express is an excellent diversion and learning tool, with a few important weaknesses.

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun time waster, November 15, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Scrabble Express Handheld (Toy)

Scrabble Express is good. It is very easy to use, and it recognized 99.5% of the words I've entered. The LCD game board display is beautiful, and the case is sturdy and artfully sculpted. My only complaint is the rack of letters given on the first turn--it seems odd to regularly get a duo of Z,X, Q, or J. When you use a turn to exchange letters, they often come back to the rack. This leads me to believe the consonants and vowels don't come randomly. I still enjoy the game, and it succeeded in being addictive at 1:30 AM.