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Y! MyWebVideo Game Review
'WordJong', 'My Word Coach', 'Word Puzzle'
New puzzle games reach out to wordplay fans
Friday, January 18, 2008
The worldwide Sudoku craze appears to be fading — if electronic versions of the number-logic game are any indication. Since 2005, I've seen dozens of Sudoku games for consoles, handhelds, computers and cell phones. On the schedule for 2008 are ... none.
A handful of publishers are taking chances on new games that appeal to word mavens.
In this photo of a screen grab released by Destineer, shows a scene from 'WordJong' which mixes two old favorites, Scrabble and Mah-Jong.WordJong
DESTINEER FOR NINTENDO DS
$19.99
Grade: 3 stars out of 4
• Like last year's "Puzzle Quest," which deftly combined "Bejeweled" and role-playing, "WordJong" mixes two old favorites: Scrabble and mah-jongg. It isn't as satisfyingly deep as "Puzzle Quest," but makes for a nice 10-minute diversion.
Each screen presents the now-familiar pile of mah-jongg tiles, now decorated with letters instead of symbols. You can use any tiles that are unblocked on the left or right, but instead of matching images you're forming words. You get bonus points for words that are longer than five letters or use less common letters like Z and X. To complete a puzzle you need to remove all the tiles.
"WordJong" serves up one fresh puzzle every day, or you can take on the "Temple Challenge," a series of increasingly difficult layouts.
My Word Coach
UBISOFT FOR Wii, DS
$29.95
Grade: 2 stars out of 4
• The "Coach" series (which also comes in French and Spanish versions) is closer in spirit to Nintendo's "Brain Age" titles. Bearing the imprimatur of a Canadian linguistics professor, it's designed to improve your vocabulary through a series of simple yet amusing exercises.
Some of the games involve spelling: You may be asked to fill in one missing letter or unscramble an anagram. Others involve matching words to their definitions. In the most pointless exercise, you're given a list of words which you have to duplicate by clicking on blocks.
Word Puzzle
MICROSOFT FOR XBOX 360
$10
Grade: 11/2 stars out of 4
• The word search (or word seek, or word find, whatever you prefer) is kind of the slack-jawed cousin of the crossword, but this Xbox Live Arcade game livens it up a little by adding time limits and competitive play.
As with the pencil-and-paper version, you're given a list of words and a grid in which the words are hidden, running in all directions. Some of the puzzles give you extra points for finding a theme that matches all the hidden words; you can also score bonuses by matching opposites or finding a series of answers before a timer ticks down.
