Scrabulous Bites The Dust

Scrabble-loving Facebook members were thwarted last week when the creators of Scrabulous, an unofficial version of the popular word game, removed the application from the social networking site.Mourners lamented the loss and commiserated over how to spend their suddenly free hours.

Hasbro (HAS), the North American owners of the 60-year-old board game, took legal action against the masterminds behind Scrabulous, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, filing a lawsuit in Southern District of New York court at the end of July. Hasbro claimed the game application infringed on its intellectual property.

Initially in an attempt to compete with the immense popularity of Scrabulous, Hasbro and Electronic Arts (ERTS) launched an official version of the word game called SCRABBLE Beta with little fan fare. While roughly 500,000 daily users used the Scrabulous application, Hasbro's version attracted 85,237 users.  Luckily for the toy company, they no longer have to worry about competing with Agarwallas' sensation on Facebook.

While Hasbro has the Scrabble-lovers all to themselves, fans may not leap to the official version after watching the excommunication of their precious Scrabulous.Luckily for any of the disenchanted, there are nearly 5,000 other applications that allow users to add games, maps, puzzles or trivia to their profile pages. Here's a sample of what exists in the Facebook universe.

Popular Applications

FunWall
Number of active daily users: 1,942,149
What is it? Post videos, posters, and write graffiti on your friends' online profile "walls."

Bumper Sticker
Number of active daily users: 1,818,501

What is it? If you bumpers stickers make you giggle, then this application is for you. Post those wacky sayings on your profile or share them with friends.

Top Friends
Number of active daily users: 1,351,630
What is it? Let the world know which pal ranks at the top of your list with this popular application. Users can give awards and keeps tabs on their best buds.

Owned!
Number of active daily users: 751,028

What is it? Find out how much your friends are worth. Then buy and sell them on the digital market.

Lil Green Patch
Number of active daily users: 680,304

What is it? Green is in, and Facebook is no exception. Help fight global warming by cultivating your very own digital Green Patch. Plant flowers, garden gnomes and butterflies on either both your own and your friends' profiles. The application keeps track of how many square feet of the rain forest is saved by users. HOW????

iLike
Number of active daily users: 326,212

What is it? Silence is boring. With iLike, users can set their profiles to rock their favorite tunes, find concerts and recommend bands.

New Applications
Chase Go Green
Number of active daily users: 1,427
What is it? College students compete to prove their school's got the best potential to go green with this up-and-coming application. The winning school will score $40,000 to make their campus green.

Man Points
Number of active daily users: 958
What is it? Don't ask for directions for this application. Users and their friends show off their manhood by performing manly tasks.

Life Quotes
Number of active daily users: 930
What is it? If you're the type who needs positive reinforcement or lives to fire up your friends, show off these inspirational quotes on your background.

Feed Homeless Puppies
Number of active daily users: 84
What is it?� What's cuter than a puppy? Nothing. So give these little guys a home on your profile and the creators will donate money to support animal shelters.

Toilet Accessories
Number of active daily users: 27
What is it? Send your friends plungers and toilet brushes to keep their profiles clean.

And if you're not a fan of social networking sites, you can still play Scrabulous at scrabulous.com. But you better hurry up and get your next game in before Hasbro sets its target on the site.