All last year I read about the addictive awesomeness that is the Word W.E.L.D.E.R. app. And I resisted. Oh, did I resist. I am someone enamored of word game apps like Words with Friends and Scrabble, so I knew I’d love it. But it wasn’t until Zynga went and killed the fast-paced action of their Boggle-esque Facebook game Scramble (still annoyed with that), that I started to look for new options for vaguely educational time-killing that didn’t rely on competitors.
Behold! For have finally succumbed to W.E.L.D.E.R and my initial instincts were right–it is pure game-playing crack
Now I know why this game made pretty much every “best of” app list of
2011. It’s a simple premise: lots of letter tiles that you have to move
around the board to form words. When you do, those words disappear from
the board and other tiles drop down, changing the board. Certain letters
have higher points, and there are tricky tiles and score-increasing
tiles as you progress through the levels to keep things interesting. You can even use iCloud to transfer a game in progress from iPhone to iPad, which is pretty cool.
Also a serious sign of addiction. Hello.
And while I want to remain mad enough at Zynga not to try out their new Scramble with Friends,
how could a word nerd resist? Unlike W.E.L.D.E.R. this is a timed competitive game,
pretty much exactly like Boggle (although real Boggle happens to need a lot of work to become a decent app). You’ve got three rounds to find
more adjacent words on a single board than your friend, meaning it requires both friends and an internet connection.
It’s brand new so I haven’t spent enough time on it to love it yet; but I’d imagine it will be as fun as the friends (or strangers) you find to play with, and whether you’re well-matched.
The thing I really love about word games versus say, Angry Birds, is that my six year-old loves playing “with me” and getting excited to spot her own words or ask for definitions of the ones I’m finding. And
when she gets older, we’ll be able to play competitively.
That is, if I’ve raised her right. –Liz
Download W.E.L.D.E.R. for iOS, now on sale for just $.99. Download Scramble with Friends for free or upgrade to the ad-free version for $2.99; also available for Android via Google Play. Also connect through Facebook.
