Fiasco! Free Review

A little like Tetris mixed with a word creation game, Fiasco! Free is a fun game to play for those who can encourage a few friends into a battle to the word-based death. It's simple to learn yet offers surprisingly tactical gameplay, so it should entertain for a while.

The idea is simple: players have two minutes to create as many words as possible, gaining points depending on the length of the word. Letters come down the screen just like Tetris pieces, with different shapes requiring different techniques. Given the strict time limit, speed is of the essence, so frequently one is more likely to succeed by creating many small words rather than holding out for one massive word.

Elsewhere, there are power-ups to help things along, such as a time bonus or point bonus. These are used by spending coins before the game starts, with coins gradually regenerated over time. Effectively this is a kind of energy bar, but it's pretty generous so it hardly feels intrusive.

Each game consists of three rounds of two minutes each with players matched up via Game Center. It's possible to exchange conversation with them, something that a few too many of these kind of games forget to include, as well as add them as a friend. The strength here anyway is in the gameplay. There are plenty of wise moves to make in Fiasco! Free and the game does a fine job of explaining all in the tips and tricks section. It might seem simple but there's more going on here than initially apparent.

It's that kind of tactical play that should ensure that Fiasco! Free is a game worth often returning to, although one might find themselves itching to be able to play a single player version.