Play Scrabble on Your Kindle [geo-restricted]

[koland]

There is a new entry in the Active Content games category for the Kindle today, SCRABBLE ($4.99) from Electronic Arts Inc.

Game Description
With SCRABBLE for Kindle play the game you know and love - anytime, anywhere.

Simple controls make it easy to play any way you want, whether you're a casual or experienced SCRABBLE player. Pass N' Play with a friend, challenge the Kindle, or play a solo game. If you need help, use the Best Word feature to create the highest scoring word possible. You can even pause the game anytime and pick it up later.

Follow your progress game by game with instant statistics tracking. As your game-play and strategy improves, you'll find more ways to rack up double and triple word scores.

Enjoy the number one name in crossword games, and sharpen your vocabulary in a fun new way.

This game (like the other two available) is only available for US customers.

[notyou]

Cool, although I don't know if I'd all $4.99 a "bargain". :-)

I'm annoyed though that the developer of the premier crossword app for the iPhone/iPad and WebOS can't get any response from the Kindle developer folks, even though he signed up on day 1 and I've even had friends I know at Lab126 ping the dev relations guys on his behalf.

Crosswords on a Kindle seems like a no-brainer.

[koland]

I'd love to have a good crossword game, but wonder at the storage it might need (since they would want to eliminate having to use whispernet, unless they had some method of charging us to download templates, which I would not like, at all, as Amazon has said that active content sellers end up paying for bandwidth).

Considering what I've paid for Scrabble games in the past (and how much space they take up, still), I think it's a bargain. I've already spent way too much time playing it today and I've downloaded it to four different Kindles, for all of us to play stand-alone, as well as multi-player. It would be nice to play via wifi with others on the net, but (at least, so far) I don't see any way to do that.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by notyou

Cool, although I don't know if I'd all $4.99 a "bargain". :-)

I'm annoyed though that the developer of the premier crossword app for the iPhone/iPad and WebOS can't get any response from the Kindle developer folks, even though he signed up on day 1 and I've even had friends I know at Lab126 ping the dev relations guys on his behalf.

Crosswords on a Kindle seems like a no-brainer.

I have been saying this is a must have since I came to MR and you would be surprised at the animosity others have expressed for that desire. I agree with you and I just want the ability to read and solve the Across Lite .PUZ format puzzles, which includes the daily NYT xword puzzle.

There are some UI hurdles though...also there is an open source bit of software out there called Xword, or is it X-Word, I forget...but it runs under Linux and has also been ported to the Nokia Internet Tablet devices...I think OS2007 as well as OS2008 but can't be sure of the requirements of the most recent build. All I know is I subscribed to the puzzles only, downloaded about a decade worth of daily puzzles and no have enough to get me through until I croak and well beyond which turns out is going to be sooner than expected. But the puzzles are there...

Sadly none of the device makers with open OS or API's have had anyone make the port...kinda, of forgive this one, it's kinda puzzling...sigh...but despite the number of crossword puzzle enthusiasts out there, Linux developers seem to prefer developing the next "great" media player rather than something millions of customers would love to have tomorrow. Or it's just the whole thing needs recoded for the Kindle OS or other reader OS's...I dunno...

For now I use BeCrossword on my Clie or Xword on my Nokia N800 so I can still carry them with me, just can't use the reader to work on them as a break...

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by koland

I'd love to have a good crossword game, but wonder at the storage it might need (since they would want to eliminate having to use whispernet, unless they had some method of charging us to download templates, which I would not like, at all, as Amazon has said that active content sellers end up paying for bandwidth).

Considering what I've paid for Scrabble games in the past (and how much space they take up, still), I think it's a bargain. I've already spent way too much time playing it today and I've downloaded it to four different Kindles, for all of us to play stand-alone, as well as multi-player. It would be nice to play via wifi with others on the net, but (at least, so far) I don't see any way to do that.

an Across Lite crossword puzzle file is around 3k-6k and the software runs fine on a Clie nx73v PDA so we are talking around a 100k max for the compiled BeCrossword code under PalmOS 5. The Xword puzzle program is written in Python as I recall so there might be a runtime needed so I am not sure of the total overhead.

[notyou]

Kindle development is Java. xword is C code. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's not necessarily easy either.

And yes, .puz files are trivially small -- I just downloaded the free classic NYTimes puzzle and it was 1.84 KB.

However according to https://kindlepublishing.amazon.com/...epubs/kdk/home, apps have a maximum limit of 100KB/user/month.

So, an app ought to be able to load about 50 puzzles/mo before you hit the limit. Ok for the casual solver, perhaps. Not so good if you're working the NYT daily and also like to do other puzzles too.

[notyou]

Also, I too have spent way too much on Scrabble sets/apps. ;-}

Also, my wife is in possession of the Kindle 2. I "upgraded" to an iPad, which is nice and all, except I have to fight with my kids (ages 2 and 6) to use it. Argh.

Funny, that seldom happened with the Kindle.

[carld]

There's already a Kindle Crosswords app/book of some sort. It has a sample, worth trying to see what it's like.

Crosswords for Kindle, Vol. 1

Edit: Well, that's the shortest sample I've ever seen. Cover, TOC, and Buy Now page.

[koland]

Originally Posted by carld

There's already a Kindle Crosswords app/book of some sort. It has a sample, worth trying to see what it's like.

Crosswords for Kindle, Vol. 1

Edit: Well, that's the shortest sample I've ever seen. Cover, TOC, and Buy Now page.

I've run into that a lot with this type of "book", as it is just a link to a web page (and if they included that in the sample, what would be the incentive to purchase?).

Only those that say 'active content' are apps in the traditional sense (it is an application, it runs on the Kindle, doesn't require wireless to function, although it may use it to get new content). Almost everything else in the store that claims to be a game or puzzle is just linking to a web page and cannot be played if the internet is not connected or if the destination web site ceases to exist.

[notyou]

Originally Posted by koland

I've run into that a lot with this type of "book", as it is just a link to a web page (and if they included that in the sample, what would be the incentive to purchase?).

Only those that say 'active content' are apps in the traditional sense (it is an application, it runs on the Kindle, doesn't require wireless to function, although it may use it to get new content). Almost everything else in the store that claims to be a game or puzzle is just linking to a web page and cannot be played if the internet is not connected or if the destination web site ceases to exist.

Yup. I'm surprised that Amazon allows these jokers to continue "publishing". The reviews of their Jumble "apps" are especially bad.