Merriam-Webster Word
Search by JSmart,
Price: $6.95
Reviewed October 2003 by David Peach
As a simple word search game, it is not
complicated on paper or on the handheld. JSmart did a good
job in keeping the game basic. There are 25 different categories
from which to choose. Each time you start a category, you
get 6 randomly chosen words out of a list of 12. This means
that it is possible to play this thousands of times before
repeating a game. It could take years before you play them
all. Jsmart has also released a Volume 2 of the Word Search
with additional puzzle topics and word collection.
The game play is straightforward. You select
the puzzle topic you want and it lays out the puzzle board
containing the words in that topic for you. You have the
6 words you are searching for at the bottom of the screen.
When you find a word, you click on the first letter and then
the last letter to circle it. This can be done in reverse
by selecting the last and then the first letter. One of the
features that I really like about the game is that when you
find a word, it is deleted from your word list. When you
win a game, it tells you how many moves it took to solve
the puzzle.
There are two buttons at the bottom of
the game screen: Quit and Solve. They do just what you would
expect them to do. There are only three menu items: Exit,
Help, and About. This is not a complicated game, so the 82
word help file is sufficient. The interface looks clean,
which makes it easy to see the words.
When I installed the game, it appeared
on my general applications tab instead of the game tab. When
first starting a game, all the text is easily readable. But
as the game is played, the letters become pixilated, sometimes
making it difficult to distinguish between letters. This
is remedied by going out to the main desktop and then reentering
the game. This way you get to keep your game running, but
force a screen redraw. An oddity occurred on some boards
that had three letter words. Sometimes the word in the word
list would appear twice on the board. Only one is valid.
This comes from randomly laying out the board. I am sure
it could happen with longer words, but the odds would be
slim. Merriam-Webster Word Search is compatible with the
Sharp Zaurus SL-5500, SL-5600, SL-A300, SL-B500, SL-C700.
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