by Gary Mazo
One of the "perks" to having a PDA is that besides being an indispensable business tool, it can serve as a very necessary diversion on commutes, during downtime and even (quietly) in the board room. PDA gaming is a multi-million dollar a year industry and some of the best of the best games come from Astraware.
Astraware has just released its newest game, Wild, Wild Words. Is it a game fitting of the Astraware name? Read on for my thoughts.
Overview:
Super Wild Wild Words is a Western-themed combination of word search and hangman, based on the popular PC and online game from GameHouse.
Super Wild Wild Words has two modes of play: Normal mode where players race against the clock to make as many words as possible before the board fills up; and Bonus mode where extra letters fall onto the play board as you make more words.
Earn Sheriff's badges to guess letters from the hangman puzzle, or even use them to guess the entire puzzle. Additional power pieces include Free Guess Keys and First Aid blocks, which give you back a body piece if you've made a wrong guess.
Super Wild Wild Words features:
- Two game modes
- Build words up to 12 letters long (registered users only, demo is restricted to words of up to 6 letters long)
- Bonus powerups to improve your score
- Complete levels by guessing the hangman puzzle
- Built-in dictionary of over 200,000 words!
- Supports 160x160 and 320x320 Palm OSŪ handhelds
Gameplay:
Wild, Wild Words picks up where Astraware's "Bookworm" left off. Simply, you want to join letters to make words. As you make your words, the letters disappear from the board and adjacent letters either fall off or move downwards on the board. You need to make your words quickly so that the board doesn't continue to fill up with letters. If one row fills up to the top - you lose.
What separates this game from bookworm and other clones is that the letters don't have to be next to one another. So, one can make a word from letters on any part of the board.
You can play a "normal" game or a "bonus" game from the main menu and there are hidden games within the game that will keep you coming back for more. Normal mode is where players race against the clock to make as many words as possible before the board fills up; and Bonus mode where extra letters fall onto the play board as you make more words. If you can make a word and release one of the "bonus" tiles (like the sheriff's star) you get to pick a letter for the side game of hangman which goes on simultaneously to the main game.
Ease of Use:
Wild, Wild Words is intuitive but a bit confusing as first. There is so much going on and so many options that I found myself needing to play three or four games to truly understand what all my options were. Once I got the hang of it I was (and still am) hooked.
Replay value:
This game will grow on you - trust me! I remember playing Bookworm for months on end and this game is even more addictive.
Overall Grade: A
Pros: Fun, addictive, a real thinking person's game
Cons: $19.95 is right at the top of the price point - even for a great PDA game
Wild, Wild Words is available from www.astraware.com for $19.95 for Pocket Pc and Palm
