Now you can play the world¿s most popular word games on your PDA! The Handmark SCRABBLE® & MONOPOLY® games are designed to play just like the classic board games!

Customer Rating:
Summary: Non pretentious implementation
Comment: This review covers two games (on one CD), Monopoly & Scrabble. Both are excellent implementations. The user interface is streamlined and effective. I don't know how it could be significantly better. Both games have the ability to play against the computer, against humans on the same Palm, or against humans on other Palms connected via Bluetooth or Infrared. I have only played against the computer, but did try the multiplayer single Palm mode and found it to be adequate in that it hides your chips (Scrabble).

Scrabble has four computer skill levels from beginner to expert. It also has two modes, friendly & tournament. I have used up to the 3rd level and find it appropriate for someone scoring in the 300s. The gameboard is clear and easy to use. There is a built-in official Scrabble dictionary, which in the friendly mode, can be used to look up words. Overall it is a lot of fun and a good way to improve one's Scrabble skills.

The Monopoly game board is a bit crowded on a Palm and they have done a good job of fitting everything on while providing a method of seeing the details. It isn't perfect, but there is no perfect solution for such a complex game on a tiny screen. I have played several games against the computer and find that the 2nd player algorithm is just adequate. It is easy to beat the computer when there is only one on one play. The game allows up to four players and when the computer plays as a 2nd and 3rd player the game becomes more challenging (as one might expect).

My only gripe about Monopoly is that it would be nice to have some different skill levels for the computer. The current decision making process is sometimes a bit lame, as the computer will spend money unmortgaging properties that don't much produce income instead of focusing on getting houses on complete property sets. It also will pass on buying when cash is low, whereas it could mortgage something to buy, which would prevent me from the opportunity of gaining a monopoly. In spite of this weakness, I still like the game quite a lot.

I am rating with a 5 because both games really are well done. However, if rating separately, I would probably give Scrabble a 5 and Monopoly a 4.

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