Doesn’t matter if you’re playing it with a word finder or not, Scrabble is one of the best board games there is. We could say that it’s even more comprehensively strategic than chess, due to it involving words, tile placement, and rack management at the same time. Other than teaching you important vocabulary words and spelling lessons, this game can also impart a few life lessons. Saying that it’s a tutorial about life disguised as a board game is partly true. Here are some of the reasons why it is:
“If you’re down and out, take a break”
Sometimes, life throws us a curve ball, and the chances of hitting the pitch is 50-50. When you already have two strikes and two outs in an inning, you can always take a time out before the pitcher throws the next pitch. In Scrabble tournaments, the same thing applies: when you can’t think of what to do in the next turn, taking a bathroom break is a necessity: step back and see the clear picture.
In life, this is also applicable: if there is something troubling you and if you’re in a dire situation, taking a step back is important. If you can’t solve it now, give yourself a slap, wash your face and close your eyes for a minute. Get some sleep if your current conundrums can’t be solved despite your best efforts: you’ll be able to know the solutions once your mind is clear and well-rested!
“The best options may not be the right ones”
When playing Scrabble, you are presented with dozens of options each turn. Of course, logic dictates that the best options are always the high scoring ones, but this is flawed: you may score more than 80 points with the word EVANGEL (being a bingo word), but it could pave the way for your opponent to score more than a hundred in his next turn, which is entirely disastrous on your part.
This is also a valuable lesson in life: although there’s a $40 per hour full-time job offered to you as a web designer in a startup during your junior college year, it always pays to finish your degree first before diving into the real world. Sure, getting the job now and neglecting your studies will give you financial dependency, but doing so will deprive you from getting more – and better – job offers in the long run.
“Play your cards right”
In Scrabble, your weapons are the letter tiles, not the words you form. What’s the use of playing the word ZEBRA when you haven’t placed it on a multiplier square? You may have lost the chance to score thirty more points by wasting away the Z. You need to learn which letters to use and which words to play at the right place, and at the right time.
This also applies in life, albeit in a more serious manner. This may pertain to your relationships, assets and opportunities. Let’s say that you’re applying for a job: during the application process, it’s important to play the cards that will help you get hired and keep the others that won’t. Although flaunting your assets, skills and achievements during the interview will impress the interviewer, keeping a calm and humble demeanor while accepting your faults and the fact that there are more cards and skills to be obtained will impress him more.
Overall, Scrabble is a great game [tweet me!]. Not only will it help you with word problems – it will also teach you a bunch of life lessons!