Bookworm

If you have ever fancied yourself a wordsmith, then you’ll likely be aware of the various word games out there. The likes of Scrabble, Scattagories and Boggle spring to mind. Well, with so many commercial board game publishers getting a piece of this action, it’s hardly surprising that game developers have been trying to get in on the act too. Popcap, the developer of the Bejewelled series was one of the first on the scene, producing a novel word game called Bookworm that still lives on in app form to this day.

This game plays rather like titles such as Scrabble: Go, Words With Friends, Wordscapes and Upwords to name a few. This game aims to offer a calm and relaxing, yet intellectually stimulating word challenge. However, does this one play like pure poetry, or does it trip over its own words. Here is our review of Bookworm.

A Dynamic Dictionary

For the classic game format of Bookworm, the player will be presented with a series of letter tiles. The main goal is to create words by linking adjacent tiles together in as quick a fashion as possible. It’s very similar to Boggle in this way, only there are more things to contend with here. You’ll have to try and create the longest words possible as opposed to the most complex words, differing from the likes of Scrabble. Plus, you’ll have to constantly be on the lookout for burning tiles and incorporate them into words fast before they burn down your library, spelling the end of the game for you. Plus, the game also has features that offer challenges to the player while they play. You’ll have certain word collections that you’ll have to make to unlock new futures. For example, they might have a maritime theme like ‘boat’ ‘fish’ ‘Whale’ etc. It’s a simple feature but one that does increase the replayability value for this game.

A Sign of The Times

We suppose that this is rather harsh as the downfall of this game is due to its age and era of release. This game was released with no multiplayer component. Something that the DS release six years after would incorporate. Plus, this version would also include an action mode. Which was a time attack mode which offered a fun challenge which shook up the gameplay.

What we are saying here is, this game is a great concept and it’s infinitely replayable so long as the player remains interested. However, it is limited in scope, perhaps lacks the variety of game modes that other word puzzles offer and after a while, the player is likely to tire of the repetitive nature of this game.

The Verdict

Overall, Bookworm does a lot right. It creates a serviceable and infinitely replayable word-based game. Therefore, offering a timeless game which has carried through until present day. However, it has to be said that current versions offer a lot more features and a refined experience. Which means that there is little reason to return to this old relic.

Pros:

• Timeless word-based gameplay
• Fun word collection feature
• Infinite replayability

Cons:

• Doesn’t offer enough additional game modes
• This version is obsolete when compared to more modern versions