Board Game News

After a marathon game-playing session, members of American Mensa named five new games as Mensa Select®. In alphabetical order, this year’s winners are:

• AmuseAmaze – At last a word game with a difference… where words don’t have to be biggest to be best… where even little words are winners. Race to spell your way through the maze. Use and pick up letters tiles as you go. block opponents and thwart their moves. Published by HL Games.
• Eye Know – It’s time to put your visual memory and general knowledge to work. Identify great images and place strategic bets on trivia to build your stack of chips. Challenge your friends and compete to collect the most game chips by identifying images and answering intriguing trivia questions. Published by Wiggles 3D.
• Jumbulaya – Jumbulaya is an addictive, multi-faceted word strategy game in which each player works with five letter tiles on his/her tray and all the letters on the board, rearranging, adding, and trading them, building and claiming longer and longer words each turn. Published by Platypus Games.
• Pixel – Don’t let the situation slide out of control in this fun strategy game of slide, point, align and win! Move a slider and place your piece in the intersection. But there’s a catch! Only one slider may be moved on each turn. Published by Educational Insights.
• Tiki Topple – Welcome to Tiki Island, home to nine colorful carvings all competing to be the top Polynesian Idol! In this fast-paced strategy game, try to maneuver your secret tikis to the top of the line by playing the right combination of action cards. Published by Gamewright.

Mensa Select winners are chosen annually at the Mensa Mind Games® competition. During the competition, Mensa members play and rate new board and card games. The five games that rate the highest are named Mensa Select and may display the Mensa Select seal on their packaging.

“You don’t have to be a genius to enjoy these games — you just have to enjoy a challenge,” said Pam Donahoo, executive director of American Mensa. “This year’s winners have earned the Mensa Select seal because they are well-designed, original and, best of all, fun to play!”

This year’s Mind Games competition was held in Phoenix, Arizona, with more than 210 players reviewing the 54 game entries. During the event, Mensa members also filled out thousands of comment cards, which will be returned to the manufacturers. Suggestions from the comment cards are often used to improve the games.

Based in Arlington, Texas, American Mensa is an organization open to anyone who scores in the top two percent on an accepted, standardized intelligence test. More information about the organization may be found at www.us.mensa.org. More information about Mind Games may be found at www.mindgames.us.mensa.org.

See Also: Mensa Select winners from previous years.

Mensa Select®, Mensa Mind Games®, and the Mensa Mind Games logo are registered trademarks of American Mensa.

The latest edition of Scrabble, the classic family word game gets an innovative new twist: instead of all players sharing one board, each player gets their own board.

In Scrabble Me, players build words simultaneously on their individual boards, and after each round, players have the option to choose a replacement letter from the bag or select one of the face-up tiles on the prize tile podium.

Another new feature is the wild tile. Each time a wild tile is played, the player who utilizes the tile must swap boards with an opponent, perhaps thwarting their strategy and turning the tide of the game in your direction!

When all 100 tiles have run out, the game is over and the player with the highest score wins.

Scrabble Me is the most innovative and fun way to play Scrabble since the original!

Purchase Scrabble Me
Learn more about Scrabble Me
View Scrabble Me rules (PDF)

In an announcement that spells F-U-N for SCRABBLE fans, WorldWinner has signed an agreement with the National SCRABBLE Association (NSA) to jointly promote the online game SCRABBLE Cubes to tens of thousands of SCRABBLE fans on the NSA Web site, as well as online and offline events.

WorldWinner is the leading provider of online game competitions for cash prizes. The National SCRABBLE Association represents thousands of word game enthusiasts throughout the United States and Canada and sanctions more than 250 local SCRABBLE tournaments every year.

SCRABBLE Cubes is an online variation of the classic crossword board game, and has consistently been one of the most popular games at WorldWinner since its launch in 2006. The NSA will introduce this new online SCRABBLE variation to thousands of SCRABBLE fans, and allow WorldWinner players the opportunity to compete against some of the best offline wordsmiths in the world.

“Playing the classic SCRABBLE game competitively adds a new level of excitement for any SCRABBLE enthusiast and we’re excited to introduce our members to WorldWinner’s SCRABBLE Cubes game, which allows them to compete online for cash prizes,” said John Williams, executive director, the National SCRABBLE Association. “Now, SCRABBLE fans can compete in online tournaments on WorldWinner whenever they’re looking for some friendly competition.”

WorldWinner will host an online SCRABBLE Cubes competition in 2008, in which the winner of an online qualifying match will compete against the 2008 National SCRABBLE Champion.

Play SCRABBLE Cubes Now
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Learn more about the game of SCRABBLE

Paradise is in the tropics, and here’s your chance to make a fortune with this prime time real estate in the latest DVD game from Hasbro, Monopoly Tropical Tycoon.

In the game, you take on a role like the Mayor, Police Chief, Developer or Surfer, each of which comes with different responsibilities and benefits, as well as special perks that can get you ahead!

The interactive DVD brings the adventure to life and allows you to make decisions that change the course of the game. Land on a Chance or Community Chest space and go to the DVD for news broadcasts to get a news story or perhaps part of a continuing one. During the game, the Banker will announce auctions with the property going to the highest secret bid. You’ll also be able to improve your properties and increase your fortune with beach houses, resorts, parks, piers, and casinos.

Your object is to build the biggest fortune by buying, trading, renting, selling, and developing island properties. If you can amass the most fortune points, you could own this island paradise!

For 3 to 5 players, Monopoly Tropical Tycoon includes a game board, DVD, 28 title deed cards, money and banker’s tray, 6 island pawns, 32 beach houses, 12 resorts, 3 casinos, 3 restaurants, 3 parks, 3 piers, 60 fortune tokens, 5 ID cards and instructions.

Learn more about Monopoly Tropical Tycoon

Across Words is an Electronic Talking Word Race Game, a rousing, high-fiving, laugh-provoking, quick-thinking, adrenaline rush of a game! Players race to make the word that solves the clue. The talking ”emcee” sets a lively pace from start to finish.

The game was conceived by Jeffrey Breslow, a very well respected game inventor with Big Monster Toys (BMT). His idea was to make an electronic version of a crossword puzzle. He tweaked the idea over time and developed a working prototype of a game that featured 2 players, or 2 teams, with the exact same letters. They would be battling to make 4, 5, or 6 letter words based on audible clues read by the “talking voice.” Originally the game was titled Lett’r Rip, but the game ultimately became Across Words.

Normally, the game sells for $30.95 but Winning Moves Games is currently offering it at a special promotional discount of $15.95 ($15.00 off) + FREE SHIPPING.

We believe that Across Words is a great game and we want people playing! We hope you enjoy it!

Purchase Across Words for $15.95 with free shipping.

Winning Moves Games has produced a brand new version of the classic family word game of Scrabble - Super Scrabble: The Deluxe Edition.

This new edition is a follow-up to Super Scrabble, which was designed by Murray Eskenazi and released by Winning Moves in 2004, and which marked the first time that the game of Scrabble had ever been altered. Super Scrabble is an officially-licensed Scrabble product and it has been approved by the National Scrabble Association (NSA). The game features 200 tiles instead of the standard 100 and comes packed with the original 100 plus a 2nd bag of 100 tiles with a slightly different letter distribution than the original 100. The board has 3 additional rows/columns of spaces and the point scoring goes as high as quadruple letters and words.

Super Scrabble: The Deluxe Edition builds upon that game by improving the game board with a raised grid to hold the tiles in place, as well as a slick turntable design that places the game board on a rotating base with ball bearings on the bottom of the game board so it can be easily twisted and turned, and each player can get an optimal look at the board, without fear of scrambling the tiles on the board.

Super Scrabble: The Deluxe Edition is the ultimate Scrabble game experience!

In The Technology Behind Backgammon at WhatPC?, Paul Wardley of Personal Computer World discusses the emergence of artificial intelligence-based backgammon programs:

Self-taught backgammon-playing computer programs are so good that they have overturned many of the assumptions previously held about how the game should be played and which are the best moves, especially in the opening phases of the game. Any player who trains by regularly playing against a backgammon program, using moves suggested by the program itself, can learn to play at levels that were previously attained by only a few top players.

One of the earliest AI-based backgammon programs was TD-Gammon, written by IBM researcher Gerald Tesauro and included in the 1996 release of the OS2/Warp Family Funpak. Later programs based on that technology include Olivier Egger’s Snowie and the free GNU Backgammon.

An interesting read.

Learn more about backgammon
Play backgammon online

As you may have noticed, we have a new section of the web site dedicated to Mobile Board Games. We’re offering a great selection of titles, for all sorts of different mobile devices, including:

• PalmOS
• PocketPC
• SmartPhones
• Symbian
• BlackBerry

In addition to traditional board games, the mobile games store also features sports games, strategy games, adventure games, card games, puzzle games, and trivia games.

You can also subscribe to device-specific RSS Feeds for New Software, Updated Software, Best Sellers, and Special Offers.

As part of the grand opening special, we’re offering 20% OFF on all games (until April 25, 2007). To get the special price, use the coupon code “GAMEON” during checkout. You can use this code as often as you like, so if you’ve been thinking of purchasing a mobile board game or two, now’s your chance to do so with a nice discount.

There is a new downloadable Monopoly game, based on the latest edition of the classic family board game. Monopoly Here & Now is a modern makeover for today’s would-be billionaires. Load your account with millions, roll the dice, and move all-new tokens around the board. Buy and sell all-new properties featuring popular destinations from across the United States.

Just like the actual board game edition of Monopoly Here & Now, which came out in late 2006 (see New Monopoly is Here, Now), the download edition features a completely updated game, with new properties, new tokens, and new property values.

New properties include Boston’s Fenway Park, Las Vegas Blvd., Houston’s Johnson Space Center, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, and Minneapolis’ Mall of America. New tokens include the Toyota Prius, New Balance Shoe, McDonald’s French Fries, Labradoodle, Motorola RAZR Mobile Headset, and a Laptop Computer.

Today’s properties, today’s tokens, today’s millions, MONOPOLY HERE & NOW EDITION is timeless fun for tomorrow’s billionaires!

More information about Monopoly Here & Now
Download Monopoly Here & Now (15MB)

The board game blog Gone Gaming has announced the winners of the Gone Gaming 2006 Board Game Internet Awards, as selected by their contributors. Winners include the following:

• Best Game Resource Site: Board Game Geek

• Best Publisher Site: Days of Wonder

• Best Game Club Site: East Tennessee Gamers

• Best Online Magazine: INDEPTH

• Best Online Gaming Site: SpielByWeb

• Best Blog: Gathering of Engineers and NYC Gamer (tie)

Read the full article for details and more winners.