Bookworm,
by Astraware $14.95
Reviewed December 2002
Do you know what a bookworm looks like?
Well, wonder no further! Bookworm Lex has made his debut
in the new word puzzle game Bookworm by Astraware, yet another
game ported from PopCap’s A list. Following the suit
of other Astraware games, this word puzzle game is fun, snappy
and challenging.
Imagine changing the diamonds in Bejeweled/Diamond
Mine to letter blocks: instead of linking diamonds, you link
letters together; the longer the letters, the higher the
score. You will get a lot more letters per screen than in
Scrabble or some other word puzzle games. But this doesn’t
make it easy. While some letter tiles give you bonus points
such as the green and yellow tiles, the Fire tiles will burn
down the library should you let them fall to the bottom of
the pile. All the letters have score values, and you can
choose to show the values in game Options. Once you clear
a word, Lex will eat them and add your achievements to the
bookshelf, and then more letters will fill up your game screen.
When the bookshelf is full, you get to move on to the next
level. To get high scores, you must not waste any bonus tiles
and should try to match the bonus word shown on the upper
right hand corner. Bookworm’s dictionary contains over
35,000 words.
With interesting game play, Bookworm moves
at a quite fast and fluid pace without any interruptions.
The game window is designed with fast pace in mind, and thus
has large letters and fast scrolling. The animations of Lex
and Fire tiles make Bookworm fun to play and addictive. There
is a high score table as well as instructions on how to play.
You will use your stylus to tap the letters and that’s
how you make or undo a word. Sound effects match the animations
with humorous FX. The game supports both Pocket PC and Palm
including hi-res Palm OS devices and OS 5 devices.
Astraware is known for making games
that anyone can pick up and play, but not everyone can
put down easily. Bookworm is another fun and addictive
title that you can play by yourself, or with your children
or with the whole family.
Playing Hint and
Tips
Don’t waste any bonus letter and
don’t ever let the Fire letter reach the bottom. |
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 Palm |
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