iAppLover

The iPhone brings with it the ability to play flash based word games on the road – just what a nerd like me needs. Maybe you’re in a family that loves word games, classics like scrabble. Perhaps you do crosswords. If you want to use your iPhone to exercise your brain, Wordsworth is the game that you’re looking for. As a typical word game, it does a lot to alleviate the boredom and of course, exercise the mind.

Much like Bookworm, another word game that’s eaten up countless hours around the world, it’s about making words out of a random assortment of letters. Your screen is filled with letters in a honeycomb layout and from there, you select letters so you can make that word. It follows the standard convention of longer is better, along with the added bonus of giving more points if you use difficult letters. You need to get a certain number of before you can move on to a new honeycomb of letters.

For $2, it’s not such a bad deal. It only sounds easy, the way the concept of a crossword or Scrabble seems simple. Then you actually try it and you realize, it’s not the walk in the park that it looks like on paper. Most words are actually too short to add to your point score or mileage. Some bonus tiles come up, tiles that offer extra points but only for a limited amount of time. Shuffling the honeycomb is an option you just need if you really want a new setup. Despite the presence of those timed tiles, it’s not really a game that pushes the bar time wise – it’s more a game that kills time rather than stresses it.

While the iPhone is getting a lot of game apps for it, it was never really meant for that purpose. Controls for most iPhone games can get very, very frustrating, very, very fast. Fortunately, Wordsworth is one with sharp controls. You can tap the letters or just sweep your finger across the group of letters that turn into a word. Too many apps walk around the control scheme, focusing on looks – Wordsworth seems to have been designed for the iPhone itself, making the controls smooth and easy to use.

If anything, the real problem with Wordsworth is its laid back atmosphere. It’s much like the crossword – you’re not looking to get pushed into any thinking sprees. For people who like that sort of game, Wordsworth works out. As addictive as the game is, it’s not for the competitive or even people who want to brag about a high score.

Aside from all these little details, Wordsworth remains a game that’s worth a quick look. For people who are sick of all the match three games running around and want a different kind of word game to play with, this is definitely worth the money.

Wurdle App Game

I like playing games on my iPhone.  I’m the kind of person who needs constant mental stimulation and that makes me fairly picky when it comes to figuring out what to do while I’m on the subway train or during a particularly lonely lunch break. Crosswords used to be my thing – now, word games like Wurdle have taken its place.

Wurdle is one of the latest in a long line of word games that include the now dated Text Twist. It is puzzle game, similar to Boggle in spirit and design – letters are arranged on an adjustable grid and it’s up to you to find as many words as you can in a preset amount of time, which can be anywhere from one minute to three minutes. There’s even a world wide scoreboard for people who’re fairly competitive – I particularly enjoy this as every now and then I develop a competitive streak of my own.

Now, playing the game itself is fairly simple – simply run your finger along the set of letters that form a legal word and the point value for that word is added to your score for the round.  Shaking your iPhone or iPod touch scrambles the offered letters, giving outs for people who just don’t dig the current set of letters.

Graphically, it’s the sort of thing you’d expect from ancient gaming consoles or a rudimentary pc, but word games are rarely known for their flashy looks after all.

The sounds for Wurdle are subtle, minimalistic and yet, quite effective. Each time you select a letter, a sound is played and when the more letters you choose, the higher the pitch of the sound, lending a sort of build-up and progression – a minute reward that can turn a good game into an addictive one.

Wurdle costs only $1.99, which fits its pros and cons.  The cons of Wurdle are largely due to the fact that it is, at the end of the day, yet another search for words game with a slightly different interface and scoring system.  It’s a fairly enjoyable one of course and one that you can get tremendous mileage out of considering the price, but still a board game.

If you’re looking for something fun to play and somewhat educational to boot, like I was, this is a good buy and a good addition to any iPhone’s repertoire.  If you’re bored of whatever word games you have on your phone, this is a good way of entertaining yourself.  It’s kept me busy for many, many hours.