Zynga Hits The Game Aisle!

Well I didn't see that one coming but here it is!

Whilst sitting through an ad break I was quite surprised to see that the popular Zynga game, "Words With Friends" has been released as an actual board game... Which I cannot see going down well with the folks over at Mattel, who own the Scrabble trademark worldwide, with the exception of the US and Canada (Where Hasbro hold the rights).

But what does this all mean?

Well, Words With Friends owes a lot of it's popularity to Scrabble. There can be no doubt about it. Being the only Scrabble clone that you can play on Facebook has allowed it to build an epic fan base and, the fact that they have now decided to hit the board game market suggests to me that any legal challenge Mattel has raised, has failed. Words With Friends it would seem is here to stay... But who will win out in the long run?

If I had to call it, I would have to say Mattel. I don't believe that they have the reach or resources that Zynga does but, Scrabble is so well seated in gaming culture that any clone, no matter it's fan base is going to have a hard time shaking it. Let's not also forget that the vast majority, if not all Words With Friends fans where Scrabble players first and foremost and, it's only truly Scrabble's lack of presence on Facebook (for some unknown reason) that attracted anyone to it in the first place.

So, to wrap it up, I think Words With Friends the board game will flop and, represents a great lack of good judgment on the part of Hasbro and Zynga. Only time will tell though.

What do you all think?

Where's Your H.E.D.Z At?

Whilst putting together a few items for sale that I had in storage in the spare room (hopefully some day to become the gaming room once I shift myself into gear), I found my copy of H.E.D.Z, the Card Game.

Whilst outwardly appearing to be little more than a Top Trumps freebie clone (it came free with a gaming magazine), it does hold a secret.

Printed on the back of the back of the standard rules card is a variant, that with no modification, could be played with any set of Top Trumps or, similar cards. So, for your trumping pleasure, here's they are!

Setup

• Deal out 7 cards to each player.
• Each player selects five 'live' cards to play with.
• Remaining cards become the players draw pile.

Play

• Each player selects a card from their live cards.
• The lead player declares a category.
• The card with the highest value wins.
• The winner places his card and the losers at the bottom of their draw pile.

• If both values on a card are tied, both cards are placed centrally an the winner of the next hand also adds along with the losers card and, their winning card to the bottom of their draw pile.

• If you run low on cards and you are the lead player, you may pass control to your opponent to draw the top card of your draw pile to your live cards.

Winning

• You win the game if your opponent has no live cards left to play.