Brain Swaggle: Where Scrabble Meets Chess

Vindy.com:

Brain Swaggle is an interactive game that combines Scrabble and chess, making for an online game that’s strategic and stimulating, said Downing, the game’s creator, who is from Cortland.

“I thought that it would be cool if somehow a game could be created combining the strategy of chess with the vocabulary skills needed for Scrabble,” Downing said. “It’s kind of like sparring with letters.”

Downing said the game is played online. Currently the only option is to play against a computer challenger.

Each player takes turns picking a letter to spell a word, Downing said.

“You can choose how long you have on each turn — 15, 30 or 60 seconds,” he said. “It’s really tough to plan ahead because as soon as the computer makes its move you might have to rethink your word.”