We are all feeling the financial pinch! Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99.
The other night, my wife said she needed a new game to play on her iPhone. Being the Blue Plate Special guy, I started spouting off a list of free or cheap games we already owned. Of course, she said thanks and walked off to find her own application. I finally noticed that she had been silent for a long while and was affixed on her phone. She explained that she found a new game that was addicting and challenging and that I could use it in my Blue Plate thingy. I am a sucker for puzzle style games, especially word games, so WordStorm instantly became the Blue Plate Special. My wife does always know best by the way!
WordStorm is a simple game to play, but a difficult game to master. The game board is simple and leaves the players’ focus on the task at hand. You must spell 35 words using the provided letters that contain four or more letters. To spell the letters, simply tap the letters in order. The kicker is that the purple letter in the middle of the board must be used in all of the words. Shaking the device will reorder the letters randomly to help change the view and maybe lead to additional words to be discovered.
Each day a new game is generated and can be chosen to play. Once that game is finished or given up, any number of random games can be played. Your high scores are kept along with the 8 letter word that corresponds with the game. There is a good chance that you will notice not many 100% scores on your board. The game is entertaining and addicting, but also quite a challenge. Some games I work frantically getting word after word, while others take a lot of careful planning to complete. Neither my wife nor myself have been able to complete a game at 100% although she has been within four words and I have been within five. Yes, she is a lot smarter than me!
Most of the words are common words that most people will at least know exist, but some boards do have a few words that are fairly rare. When a word is found, it will appear in the bottom and blank words will at least display how many letters are needed. Here is my one gripe, the words are randomly placed on the bottom of the app. Other word games often place words in alphabetical order. This would greatly improve my success since I would at least know what letter to get my mind started with when towards the end of the game. There is no time constraints with WordStorm, so play at your own leisure, take a break and come back later when you get frustrated. The game is unique, fun and challenging, but best of all, it is free! Check out WordStorm here in the app store.
What I like: Unique take on the word scramble game genre. Highly addictive.
What could be improved: I would love to see the words in alphabetical order on the bottom of the screen to help guide my thought processes towards the end of the game.
