Scrabulous is fabulous on Facebook

I have a confession. The reason why you’ve heard barely a peep from me isn’t because I’ve been Tasered by zealous cops or abducted by aliens. Truth is, I’ve been fiendishly playing Scrabble Scrabulous on Facebook. I swear, It’s like a Krispy Kreme donut with sprinkles of crack on top.

How did I become so addicted?

Open, open, open

Facebook’s strategy to open up to third party apps allowed Scrabulous.com’s creators, Jayant and Rajat Argarwalla, to turn Scrabulous.com into Facebook’s hottest game ever.

After its integration with Facebook, Scrabulous is now delightful, convenient, and sticky. Its a great example of how to take a classic standalone product and turn it into an online service that connects emotionally and deeply with people.

The proof is in the numbers. While the original Scrabulous.com hosts 20,000 active users, the Facebook port gets 260,000 players on weekdays and about 5 million hits a day.

Friends + strangers

After finally learning to play Scrabble this year, I’ve had a hard time finding other players to practice with. The standalone Scrabulous.com was useable, but I was frustrated losing every time. It seemed most of the other users were hardcore power players who slept with a Scrabble dictionary on their pillows.

On Facebook, the large number of players means the players much more varied in skill. So far, I’ve won about half of the games I’ve played. (Perhaps, I’m just getting better?)

The best part, though, is playing with people you already know. Scrabulous integrates with your existing Facebook network, allowing to directly initiate games with your friends from across the street or the country.

Persistence pays

On Facebook, Scrabulous games remain active even when you’re not logged on. Games also aren’t timed, so you can play at your leisure over several days, even weeks. It’s a bit like playing chess by snail mail in the ancient days before the Internets. Without the pressure of time, you can play with just a few minutes a day.

Unfortunately, I’ve been spending way way way more than a few minutes a day playing Scrabulous. After neglecting my blogging duties and tiring out my eyes, I’m going to nip this obsession in the bud. Beginning today, I’m limiting game time to 30 minutes a day in the morning.

So if you’re up for a super slow game, add me to your Facebook. Let’s play.