Wordulous Review

I was very interested in opening up the latest game for 99Games, Wordulous. I have played Wordworth a lot and found that it added some new twists to the formula that people were familiar with in playing Bookworm. I knew I would be keeping my eye on these guys and looking to see what they would do next.

Well, with Wordulous you have a game that is adding some new twists to another word genre that we’ve seen before. This time it’s the anagram games like Text Twist that get a little overhaul. And, just like they did with their first game, I’d have to say that 99Games has made something we’re all found of (but have played to death) and added some new life to it.

The basic play of the game is simple. You have six letters and you must try to make as many words out of those letters as possible. You’ll receive more points the longer the word and using all six letters will earn you the most points. And while that may all sound easy, I’ve always found it amazing that I can look at letters for a long time and still not see the obvious words.

So what have the brains behind 99Games done this time to make things different? The first thing I noticed was that you actually lost points when you put in a wrong word. This was a really welcomed addition because I had gotten used to just trying out everything and seeing if it was a word, now I had to really think.

The other new offering that really helps the game play is the “Examination” Mode. Here you’ll get three minutes to get as many words as possible. At the end the teacher comes out and rates your performance. This is done by comparing your skills against things like a Hermit (not good), to Rock Stars (not as good as you’d think), to cops, and on and on.

This adds a nice bit of pressure to the game and a fun, humorous way to end it. One word of advice on this, however… don’t get too caught up on a board looking for words. Once you’ve made enough words that you can move to the next I’d suggest that you do that. This has really helped me get higher scores.

There are some other nice, and new, features as well. As I mentioned above, you don’t have to fill out the entire board to move to another one – or even get the six letter word. A little “ABC” icon in the bottom left of the screen will let you know that you’ve got enough words and you can move on.

There’s also the Challenge Mode where you can send out challenges through your phonebook or on Facebook. The latter one will let you go up against people all over.

And there is a Practice Mode where you can just go as long as you like and give yourself a nice test. Sure it’s not as fun as the others, but it will help you get a feel for the game.

And while games like this don’t really a complicated control method, Wordulous does a nice job keeping the letters large enough so you won’t be making too many mistakes even when you’re frantically trying to get in a few more words before the time runs out. I also found the music to be nice… nothing special, but it works and at times that’s enough.

And while most of the look of the game is nice and clean, I really wonder why so little effort was put into the main body of the art. Forgive me, but the “teacher” looks like some blow-up doll with the perpetual “o” mouth. And she’s the icon! They were going for a “look” and I salute them for it, I’m just not a fan.

The one area where this game fell flat for me is in the words that are used. This is obviously a big dictionary they’re using (and from multiple countries). Sure I might be called an Ugly American, but I’m also a guy who plays word games all the time and (without too much bragging) has a best selling book to his credit. I tried and tried but couldn’t get quite a few of the six-letter words. Then, when they appeared, I had to look them up.

“Maunds”, I found out, is a unit of weight in India. “Bayamo” is a violent thunder squall coming off the coast of Cuba. “Gamine” is a homeless girl. And “Dekare”… I don’t know what that is. I ran it through several dictionaries and the best I could come up with is “the most common misspelling of Decare.

I don’t mind learning new words, but I went through 18 boards until I finally found a word I knew.

But in the end, I like the changes that have been made and I’m going to chalk up playing this game as a way to improve my knowledge of words not common in America. That alone has got to be worth the game’s low price.

If you love word games, especially those of the anagram variety, I give Wordulous a big thumbs up… it’s certainly worth its weight in Maunds… wait… I don’t think I used that correctly.

The Good

Very Nice Presentation
Control Scheme Works Well
I Love That You Lose Points For Wrong Words
Facebook Challenge Mode Is A Nice Touch

The Bad

Words Not Might Be Well Known (By Anyone)
Not A Fan Of The Art

If you enjoyed reading this article or review thank us by submitting it to these services below.

Related posts:

1. WordsWorth
2. Twisty Text Review
3. Bookworm Review

Tags: Wordulous help, Wordulous iPhone, Wordulous Review

Category: Games