Challenge The iOS World To A Spelling Competition With Womby
Womby ($0.99) by gravypockets, llc is a word game that seems like it is made for the little ones, but is definitely more challenging then you might think. Slide letters around on a grid to create multiple words for the highest score.
There is only one game, one mode and one level of difficulty. Players start with a grid of letters laid out in five columns and five rows. The letters can be moved upward, downward or from side to side within their row or column by sliding the selected letter. Imagine those plastic slide puzzle games, only with letters instead. Once you’ve created a word, tap it to make it disappear and a new set of letters will drop from above. If you line up the letters properly, more than one word will be created at the same time and you’ll earn bonus points.
Harder letters like Z and Q earn extra points. Every time you make a word, you get a +16 time bonus, so the longer you go without creating a word, the sooner time runs out. Time also speeds up once the marker has gone past halfway.
You can post your high scores to Facebook to share with friends and family or keep track of your ranks through Game Center. Every time you play, a Game Center player’s score will appear so you can see how close you are to beating them.
The strange thing about this game is that it is very challenging, but is designed more like a kids game. There are no special features, no ability to increase or decrease the time limit, and no levels that get harder. It is a very fun game, but seems like it is still missing a lot.
I’m not exactly sure what would make it better, but a good starting point would be to add the ability to adjust the difficulty level. This would entail adjusting the time limit for the game. Another thing might be to add a way to earn coins. Coins could be used to buy power ups like removing one row on the grid. Instead of offering free, unlimited hints, those could be restricted so that players would have to buy them with their winnings.
Even though Womby doesn’t feel like a finished game, it is still a very challenging word puzzle. The slide-to-play letter grid offers many options for creating multiple combinations of words and earning extra points. There needs to be more of a reason to compete, like earning coins. Otherwise, it is an interesting game for fans of word challenges.
