Review: Murray from Palm-Mac Plays WordPop

Murray Alexander contacted me a few weeks ago to review my games and I was thrilled. Murray's web site Palm-Mac won best new Blog in 2006. Below is his review of WordPop! for Windows Mobile

WordPop for Palm and Windows Mobile

Todd Sherman provided me with a copy of WordPop for WM and I have been playing this for the past couple of weeks...it's quite addictive. I don't know how best to describe this game...it's sort of like scrabble in that you get points for making words but it then takes it a step further because you have to try and clear the board of all letters. The ultimate aim is straightforward, try and get as many points as you can. Cleverly, and to add longevity, there is a running High Score Board so you can keep playing it trying to get that elusive higher than the last high score. There is also a similar feature for words points.

Like all good games there are different difficulty levels and I being extremely intelligent, of course, went straight to the hard level. Big mistake...ahem...best to try it out on the basic level to get a feel for it. It's not as easy as it may sound however but there are things along the way to try and help. For example, if you are a real smarty pants and make a word that is high scoring you may earn a Bonus. This entitles you to use blank letter tiles which can be brought into the battlefield, and it is a battle, and used to help form words. The game goes on until you fail to clear the board. You can also rotate the board which may help move the remaining letters into more formidable words.

I have noticed with Smart Box Design games that in game help is very good which is a bonus, some games I have tried out and given up previously was mainly because the accompanying "help" was in fact...ahem...no help.

It's not easy but at the same time it is not impossible and there is a learning curve. Once that curve is reached, in other games you can get bored or just lose interest in carrying on but with WordPop the incentive is still there...to beat the high score for both game and individual words. I don't know how it looks on a palm but on my WM device it is great with crisp graphics and clear in game sounds.

All in all, a first class game that will keep you going for ages.