Moxie Review

“Moxie”. That’s a word I’ve always liked. It’s one of those words that I throw around from time to time when I’m in a “mood”. I’m also a big fan of word games and can easily say that half the games I own are of that genre. What can I say, I’m a writer who loves to use strange words from time to time. A word game called “Moxie” has my name all over it.

After that introduction I want to get right to the point. With “Moxie” I finally have the word game that pushes me on the strategic level I’ve been wanting. For months “Wurdle” has been my go-to word game, but it’s time to move that one down a page or two and make room for “Moxie”.

The game is very simple. You’re given a letter, one at a time, and all you have to do is place it where you want in any of the fifteen spaces (three word rows of five spaces each). Or, if you prefer, just pass on the letter completely. Your goal is to try and make words. You get points for every word you create. Each letter has their own value (Q is worth more than E, for example) and the longer your word, the more points you get.

And once a word is in place you can change it by swapping out a letter. For instance, if you have the word “CAT” and the letter “B” comes up you can change it to “BAT” and get more points. I you create a word that you’ve already used there’s no penalty, but there’s also no additional points

That’s the good news, but you can also get penalized points if you break up a word, or “Twaddle” as the game puts it. But sometimes you have to destroy a word if you want to try and make a better one, and that’s where the fun strategy comes into play. Several games saw me holding on to words just hoping the right letter came along. Sometimes it worked out for me, other times not so much. This added a new level of strategy of which no other word game on the iDevices currently offers.

Graphically this game uses its simple premise and does the smart thing, keeps it simple. The letters are very clear and the entire interface is easy to use. To place a letter you just touch the box you want the letter to go in, or you just touch the “pass” button to get a new letter.

The game is also relaxing because there is no timer forcing you to make picks. It lets you play at your own pace and when it’s all said and done you can look at the score and know that you gave it your best shot. There’s no feeling of missing something because the time ran out before you noticed the word you wanted to make.

The sound might be the little downside to the game. It’s another area where the developers kept it simple, but I’m not sure it comes across right. You get a click with your letter placement and a strange, voiced “twaddle” that greets you when you take apart a word. But, since I don’t’ play word games for the great sounds I just turned everything down and went back to enjoying the game.

I liked that the game actually has a menu option to send them emails with suggestions. I found this to be a nice touch, but it made me think of something that was missing. There is a scoreboard for the game, but not a global scoreboard. On the app store page the dev talks about his mother’s great high score. I want to be able to beat her, and everyone else, and the global scoreboard would give me what I’m wanting.

Good news on that, however, because Blue Ox has made mention that a global scoreboard is something they’re working on (though they’re worried that Chris’ mom will dominate it). And with the invitation to hear from users on how to improve, I’m sure they’ll find more ways to make it better.

I’d be interested in seeing a mode where passed letters cost you points, or possibly one where you only have a certain number of passes before you can’t pass any more.

As it stands, Moxie is a great strategic word game. Last night my wife and I got very competitive over who would have the high score before we went to bed. I’m a little embarrassed to say that on the last game she beat me by 22 points. Now I have to beat her score before I can go after Chris’ mom.

The Good

Strategic word play
No pressure in the play (unless you count trying to beat your wife’s score)
Game play is quick, giving you time for “just one more game”

The Bad

No global scoreboard (yet)
Sound (though that’s nit-picky)

Related posts:

1. Twisty Text Review
2. Word Fu Review
3. Boggle Review

Tags: High Score, Puzzle Game, Twaddle, Unique, Wurdle

Category: Games