What do you get when you combine the classic game of Scrabble with a fast-paced card game? You get Scrabble Slam!, of course! It’s a downloadable DSiWare title for your Nintendo DSi.

Scrabble Slam! is super easy to learn how to play. You and up to three other computer or human players can participate. Four cards sit in the middle of the playfield and they have a letter on each of them to spell out a four-letter word. In your hand are other cards with letters on the front and back. You must quickly put cards on top of the four-letter word to make new words. Nobody takes turns, so it can be really frantic! Letter scoring is like the original Scrabble game, and whoever can use up all the cards in their hand first, wins!

Play control is simple, too. Just use the stylus to drag cards into play, and tap to flip cards. You can challenge other people, but they’ll need to have their own DSi and copy of the game. Use the DSi camera to take a picture of your face for your profile. It would’ve been nice to have a dictionary mode like the original Scrabble DS game does. For such a simplistic game, I would’ve rather seen it at the 200 point price mark instead of 500, but it’s still a fun and quick portable pick-up.

The original Scrabble game is also available on DSiWare, and there is also a DS cartridge that has both Scrabble and Scrabble Slam! on the same card. Even so, downloading both games is still cheaper than the DS cartridge. So if you enjoy Scrabble and other word games, you might want to download either of these titles, or both!

Kid Factor:

Reading and spelling skills are required, but otherwise it’s a pretty easy game to figure out. Multiple skill levels mean that anyone can play and feel challenged without being too frustrated. It can also be considered somewhat educational as it reinforces spelling and vocabulary skills. Scrabble Slam! is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews