Word Challenge

Background

Developed by eSoft Interactive, the company behind such addictive titles as Traffic Jam and Tower Mogul, Word Challenge is yet another example of the company’s dedication to professional products. But is it just a flashy package, or does the gameplay live up to the presentation?

Graphics

Obviously, the concept behind the game is hardly graphics-intensive. Rather than racy 3D explosions and other ambitious effects, Word Challenge relies on a crisp, clean interface and a polished look and feel. The menus are all easily navigable and look very professional. The interface for the game itself is intuitively designed and easy to operate.

There are, however, a few minor problems with the graphics. Primarily, the text in the word search is fairly small. While this doesn’t really come into play in a short, minute-long game, if you’re really getting into it, your eyes can get quite sore. After a long while of playing the game, I had to hold my Pocket PC close to my eyes, and eventually I had to set the game down to give my eyes a rest. This shouldn’t be a problem if you only play the specific word search game for a few minutes, but it’s still a noteworthy issue.

The sound on Word Challenge is pleasant, but it’s nothing to write home about. The music is mostly atmospheric, and it’s an agreeable accompaniment to the graphics, but it’s not going to win any Grammies. eSoft makes a tactful move in lowering the volume of the music significantly when the user leaves the menu and enters one of the mini-games. This works very well because the user can concentrate on the words on the screen while still having the music softly wafting out of the Pocket PC speakers.

The miscellaneous sounds in Word Challenge, though rare, are excellent. When a nonexistent or incorrect word is chosen, a reminding buzz sounds. Conversely, when a word is successfully entered and a score is achieved, the user gets to enjoy a rewarding jingle.

Gameplay

In a game like Word Challenge where graphics and sound hold only minor importance, gameplay is everything. I’m happy to say that, while not innovating at all, Word Challenge offers great classic word-themed fun. There are four timed mini-games contained within Word Challenge:

In Word Jumble, the user is offered seven scrambled letters. The objective is to either guess the seven-letter word they compose, or to create smaller words within that word. For example, if the scramble is ATSGNLI, the user can enter the answer, “LASTING,” right off the bat, or increase his or her score by entering “LIST,” “SLING,” “TAN,” etc. and then typing in the final answer.

Hunt-a-Word is a classic word search. The user is given 12 words to find in a 14x14 grid. The words can be arranged vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

Hungman is simply Hangman (with a name guilty of some degree of innuendo). The user must guess letters to find the seven-letter word.

Word Whizz is probably the most unique of the games. The user is provided with a 5x5 grid of letters. The objective is to arrange words by connecting sequential letters, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The user can switch it up, first selecting two horizontally connected letters, and then a third vertically connected to the second, and so on. It’s a uniquely challenging game, if a bit hard to describe.

Conclusion

If you consider yourself a word person or if you enjoy any of these classic games, Word Challenge will not disappoint. It offers little variation on the standard model, but each mini-game is presented in a very professional package and is well-executed. The words are easy enough to be attainable, but difficult enough to be challenging. Furthermore, there are three difficulty levels. While the game’s replayability is theoretically infinite, the mini-games simply aren’t complex enough to sustain extended interest for a very long period of time. After the initial playing time, the user will likely end up keeping the game and playing it only occasionally – but for a game like Word Challenge, this is probably perfectly fine.

Note:

As with any purchase, there’s something to be said for technical support and service, and eSoft Interactive excels in both of these areas. Any queries will be answered promptly and effectively, and if any problems are encountered, the developers are easily reachable.

Pros
-Great classic gameplay
-Crisp, easily navigable menus
-Intuitive interface
-Professional package

Cons
-Little innovation
-Games lack depth, negatively affecting replayability

Score: