Turn-based Scrabble race Lexatron competes on iOS this week

This week will see the iOS launch of asynchronous word battler Lexatron, which is described by its New York designer Brian Hammond as a mash-up of "Scrabble and Tron".

So, two players start laying down Scrabble tiles from two sides of an isometric Scrabble board, then race - turn by turn, word by word - to reach their goal space on the opposite side of the board.

But, this means that there's a deadly choke point in the middle of the battlefield, where the two snaking processions of words will inevitably meet, tangle, and try to cross. Like Tron's Light Cycles.

And we know how that ends.

Getting to that middle area first and completely cutting off your enemy's path to his / her goal would appear to result in an automatic victory.

That's where bomb tiles come in handy. These aggressive weapons - even more vicious than the X tile - can blow a hole in your enemy's defences and offer a new path to the goal.

All told, it's an awfully smart idea. It's Scrabble-meets-strategy, turning the classic boardgame into a fearsome battle of short verbs, interconnected words, and essential vowels.

For Scrabble veterans who have tired of Words With Friends and Word Trick, this is your new war to fight.

You can find opponents on Facebook and Twitter; in your contacts book; by username; or randomly. You can also have a crack at the Pass and Play mode.

Lexatron hits the App Store on October 10th. It will cost 69p / 99c, and will be a Universal app.