![]() ![]() Lately, however, it's been hard to find any online challengers I don't know if that's because of Xbox Live's recent technical issues or because players have gotten bored. 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.Ĭompetitive play can be pretty lively, although a game rarely takes longer than a minute. "Word Puzzle" (Microsoft, for the Xbox 360, $10): 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.Īs 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. Your speed and accuracy determines your "expression potential," which suggests a career path, and I found it amusing that "journalist" ranks below "motivational speaker." I wish "My Word Coach" was more challenging and had a wider variety of games you can learn a lot more by doing a newspaper crossword. In the most pointless exercise, you're given a list of words which you have to duplicate by clicking on blocks. Others involve matching words to their definitions. ![]() Some of the games involve spelling: You may be asked to fill in one missing letter or unscramble an anagram. Bearing the imprimatur of a Canadian linguistics professor, it's designed to improve your vocabulary through a series of simple yet amusing exercises. "My Word Coach" (Ubisoft, for the Wii, DS, $29.99): The "Coach" series (which also comes in French and Spanish versions) is closer in spirit to Nintendo's "Brain Age" titles. "WordJong" has been available for computers and cell phones, but the DS stylus, an ideal controller for clicking tiles, makes this version the best. You can also play in turns versus a computer player or another human. "WordJong" serves up one fresh puzzle every day, or you can take on the "Temple Challenge," a series of increasingly difficult layouts. To complete a puzzle you need to remove all the tiles - which often means settling for shorter words to balance your remaining letters. You get bonus points for words that are longer than five letters or use less common letters like Z and X. You can use any tiles that are unblocked on the left or right, but instead of matching images you're forming words. It isn't as satisfyingly deep as "Puzzle Quest," but makes for a nice 10-minute diversion.Įach screen presents the now-familiar pile of mah-jongg tiles, now decorated with letters instead of symbols. "WordJong" (Destineer, for the Nintendo DS, $19.99): Like last year's "Puzzle Quest," which deftly combined "Bejeweled" and role-playing, "WordJong" mixes two old favorites: Scrabble and mah-jongg. And a handful of publishers are taking chances on new games that appeal to word mavens. Majesco did a terrific job last year translating "The New York Times Crosswords" to the Nintendo DS. Casual gamers have made modest hits of PC games like "Bookworm" and "Text Twist," while the Facebook crowd has turned "Scrabulous," a Scrabble knockoff, into a phenomenon. I'd love to see more video games based on word puzzles, and I think there's an audience out there. I've put aside sudoku and returned to my old two-crossword-a-day puzzle regimen. I gave into the fad for a while, in much the same way I got hooked on "Tetris," "Minesweeper" or "Bejeweled." But now that I've achieved a reasonable skill level, it feels like there's not much more to see. Since 2005, I've seen dozens of sudoku games for consoles, handhelds, computers and cell phones. ![]() The worldwide sudoku craze appears to be fading - if electronic versions of the number-logic game are any indication. ![]()
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