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- Facebook is the most popular social networking website, with over 200 million active users. It was also once the home to a game called "Scrabulous," an unauthorized version of Scrabble that was shut down after a lawsuit. Fortunately, the game has been reincarnated as "Lexulous," and is now available to all Facebook members for free. This guide will show you how to play Lexulous on Facebook.
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- Facebook is the most popular social networking website, with over 200 million active users. It was also once the home to a game called "Scrabulous," an unauthorized version of Scrabble that was shut down after a lawsuit. Fortunately, the game has been reincarnated as "Lexulous," and is now available to all Facebook members for free. This guide will show you how to play Lexulous on Facebook.
Introduction
- After losing a copyright lawsuit to Hasbro (which owns the rights to Scrabble), the creators of the word game Scrabulous were forced to remove it from Facebook. Less than a year later, the Scrabulous programmers launched Lexulous, a Scrabble-like game that differentiated itself from the original Scrabble in subtle but important ways. If you would like to learn more about the game and how to play, read on.
Step 1: Access Lexulous
- The easiest way to access Lexulous is to enter the word "lexulous" into a search engine and clicking on the first link, which will take you to Facebook.com's Lexulous page.
Step 2: Enter Your Login Information
- If you aren't already logged in to Facebook, you will be prompted to do so here. On the right side of the bar are two dialog boxes. On the left dialog box, type in the e-mail address that you used to sign up for the account. On the left, enter the password that you created when creating your membership, then click the "Login" button.
- On the next screen, click on "Go to Application." This will open the Lexulous front page, where you can choose to play live with other Facebook members, or simply practice on your own. After you have made your selection, the next page will ask you if you agree to the personal sharing aspects the application. If you agree, continue to the next step.
Step 3: Game Rules
- If you are familiar with Scrabble or Scrabulous, Lexulous should be easy to master. The goal in the game is to create words with assigned "tiles" that each have a letter and a number, then click the "Play Word" button. The numbers are the point values for the letters, with more common letters having lower point values. For example, the letter "E" will have a lower value than the letter "Q." The main differences between Lexulous and Scrabble are that Lexulous uses eight tiles instead of seven, and the point values for Lexulous have been slightly altered from the original.
- The board is similar to a crossword puzzle, in that interlocking words form a grid of letters. The difference is that you (and your opponent) are creating the words, then building on the words that have been placed on the board. The board itself features squares with special values that can increase the score of the letter being placed upon it. You are also awarded points for using seven or eight tiles from your rack. This is called a "bingo."
- The game is over when all the letter tiles are played or no player can spell a valid word with the tiles they have left. The player with the highest score wins the game.
Step 4: Playing Lexulous on Facebook
- As with the old Scrabulous application, Lexulous allows you to join a public table, create your own table or start a private game with a friend. One of the more useful features is the Challenge option, in which other players can ask the game dictionary if a word is valid. If the challenge is rejected, the questioning player loses a turn. Another is that you can play with friends without them being online; you can make a move, log out of Facebook for a while, then log back in to see if it's your turn. This type of leisurely game could conceivably continue for a week or more.
Conclusion
- While Scrabulous is long gone, its spirit lives on in Lexulous, which has become an addictive replacement for hundreds of thousands of Facebook users. The simple gameplay and community aspects of online interaction remain intact, as well as the challenges for everyone who enjoys a word puzzle challenge.
