Tag: Word puzzle »

Word Soup, the popular UK coin-op word game, has landed on the App Store and while it isn’t glitzy, it is one of the most compelling anagram puzzle games I’ve played.

What makes Word Soup so much fun is that the board is huge. Nine columns and 12 rows of letters fill the playing field. Like Scrabble, difficult-to-place letters like Q's and Z's have the highest point value while R’s, S’s and vowels aren’t worth much. Like Boggle, players form words by connecting one letter to any of the eight adjacent letters, then connecting the next until a word is formed. With a grid this size it’s possible to make words of 15, even 20 letters.

The game has three modes. In Relaxed Game and Brain Game there is no timer. Players can spend as long as they like looking for the best possible word and keeping an eye on what letters will fall away in W.E.L.D.E.R. fashion when the word is accepted. In Relaxed the goal is just to get a high score on a single board. A bonus is awarded for clearing the whole board. Timed Game is a blitz affair that otherwise follows the same rules.

Brain Game - my favorite mode - is level-based. Here the trick is to make the longest words possible before hitting the round's target score. Longer words earn players more letters to fill in empty spaces at the start of each new level. The goal is to continue earning enough new tiles to reach the next target score. When players run out of letters the game ends.

There are no power-ups, but there is a limited-use shuffle button and developers Fuzzy Bug Interactive added a special for-mobile touch: at any time, players can tilt their device to move letters in rows with empty spaces to the left or right. It’s very useful for aligning those Q’s with U’s.

I’m hoping they don’t add a store -a game with no in-app purchases is refreshing. An asynchronous multiplayer mode is something I could definitely get into, however. Also, it may be nit-picking, but it's annoying that after every game players are returned to the home screen. A faster replay option would be great for those of us who tend to play a tad compulsively.

Word Soup doesn’t revolutionize word gaming, but for those who love flexing their verbal muscles, it’s a great pick-up.

It hasn't been until recently that I've really begun to explore my iPhone's capacity for online gaming. I've come to the conclusion that it's certainly not the best platform for drawn-out battles, but it's great for quick random matches. And it's a good fit for a game like Wordy Findy.

There's absolutely nothing to it: just download the app (for free), choose a name to play under and just wait for the next game to start. Matchmaking is handled automatically. Once a game starts, players have around two minutes to find as many words as possible by tracing a line between connecting letters. Completed words earn points based on the values of the letters used and handy information like total available words and points are shown after each game. A scoreboard with each participant's name and score is also displayed between rounds, igniting those instinctual fires of competition while still providing the more humble with anonymity.

Wordy Findy is in the App Store right now, and it's completely free. Ad-supported with banners displayed at the bottom of the screen (mercifully out of the way), but still free.