I got the "Scrabble" CD-Rom for my birthday this year because no one wants to play Scrabble with me anymore.

I have a Scrabble boardgame, the fancy Deluxe Edition with the rotating board, and I can usually coerce my husband into playing with me about once a month, but he doesn't like to because he always loses. Keep in mind that this is the ONLY game about which this is true; I generally lose at Scattergories, and we are fairly evenly matched when it comes to Mindtrap and Trivial Pursuit. When we have company and someone suggests boardgames, he yells, "ANYTHING but Scrabble!" So my sister took pity on me and bought me a Scrabble game which I can play all by myself, or with her and other friends online.

The "Scrabble" CD-Rom is great because it sharpens your Scrabble skills even further. Because of the "suggestions" feature, I am learning a lot of new words and have been dutifully looking up their meanings in the dictionary. Before you start thinking that I should get a life, let me assure you that I have one; I save my Scrabble playing for times when I'm home alone or when my husband is immersed in "Final Fantasy."

The computer opponent is "Maven", and Maven has varying skill levels. Right now I can easily beat Maven at the intermediate level; I am slowly working my way up and have won a couple of games at the more advanced levels. I like not having to figure out the scores or even select my tiles if I don't want to; there is an auto-select feature that does that for you. There are other great features, too: a dictionary, hint guides (I find the list of 'Q without U' words to be invaluable), pop-up definitions, and mini-games that present new and different challenges.

This game is easy to use and the graphics are good; the only truly annoying thing is the MUSIC. If I want to hear that, I'll go ride an elevator, thank you! It is best to turn the sound down while playing unless you want the horrible music to get stuck in your head. Otherwise, I haven't found any problem with this game, besides it's addictive power. I have been known to play five or six games in one sitting, often in an effort to beat my high score, which currently is 536. But watch out for Maven - he/she/it is a heck of a Scrabble player!

Recommended: Yes