Bookworm (video game)

Infobox VG
title= Bookworm


caption= Screenshot from Bookworm
developer= PopCap Games
publisher= PopCap Games
distributor= Various
designer= Jason Kapalka
series= Bookworm
engine= PopCap Games Framework
version= 1.3 (April 12, 2004)
released= 1.0 (February 25, 2003)
genre= Puzzle
modes= Single Player
ratings = ESRB: Everyone (E)
platforms= Windows, Macintosh, Game Boy Advance, Xbox Live Arcade
media= CD, Online Download, PDA, Smartphone
requirements= OS: Win 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista. Memory: 128 MB RAM. DirectX: 7.0. Processor: Pentium II, 350MHz or faster.
input= Keyboard, Mouse

"Bookworm" (or "Bespelled") is a word-forming computer puzzle game by PopCap Games. From a grid of available letters, players connect letters to form words. As words are formed, they are removed from the grid and the remaining letters collapse to fill the available space. As in Scrabble, players earn more points by creating longer words or words which use less common letters. In November 2006, PopCap Games released a spiritual successor, "Bookworm Adventures".

Tile types

In addition to standard letters, tiles of various colors can appear depending both on the current level within the game and on the length of words being formed. Short words tend to increase the appearance of negative tiles, while longer words increase the appearance of positive tiles. The tile colors are as follows:

* Green Tiles, Gold Tiles, Sapphire Tiles, and Diamond Tiles - These tiles are awarded to indicate skill in forming longer words. Using these tiles in subsequent words increase the number of points earned by the word. It takes progressively longer for burning tiles to burn through the higher value tiles.
* Red Tiles - Throughout the game, burning red letters appear, increasing in frequency at higher difficulty levels. These letters automatically move downwards, and if they reach the bottom of the grid, the entire library is burned, ending the game. Hence, players must take care to remove these letters (by using them to form a word) as quickly as possible.

Other elements

If the player clicks on Lex (off to the side of the play area), all of the tiles will be scrambled; however, this will produce a light to medium onrush of red tiles. If players scramble two or more times in a row, a large number of fire tiles will begin to appear on the board. Nonetheless, this provides a way to create more word combinations, as over time, less frequently used letters will otherwise gather in certain areas.

If desired, the game can be played in "Action" mode (as opposed to the "Classic" mode discussed above). In this mode, the game runs in real-time, periodically adding a new red tile every few seconds. These tiles must be dealt with quickly, leaving little time to plan longer words before having to turn one’s attention to another red tile.

Strategy

As the player advances to each succeeding level, red tiles appear more frequently and offer more letter combinations designed to present multiple word options to the player; for example, "cow", "scow", "scowl", or "scowled". In many cases, the player must overcome the urge to immediately get rid of the tile. Instead, he or she must scan the board and look for opportunities to make the best possible word. When two or more red tiles appear, the player must judge which tile(s) should be attended to first, so as to minimize the chance of a red tile being a letter that cannot be used later. If the player can't use a red tile immediately he or she should at least try to use the tile it touches below as this will automatically be burned through. As one becomes more experienced at word making, it will become easier to make more and varied words. If the player settles for succeeding instances of shorter, simpler words, the spate of new red tiles will become overwhelming and the game will quickly end. The exception to this seems to be when short words are created vertically up or down. By maneuvering sapphire and diamond tiles to the base of the board a buffer is created giving more time to deal with burning tiles.

At times one needs to "risk" letting red tiles fall to clear out clumps of unwanted letters. In this case, one needs to plan ahead for words that will use the red toward the bottom of a column.

Game modes

The modes of the game include "Classic" and "Action". Classic mode is generally easier, because the player has an unlimited amount of time to form words. In contrast, in action mode, tiles move on their own, and a larger number of red (burning) tiles spontaneously appear. As a result, it is generally easier to create longer words in classic mode, whereas in action mode, the primary goal is often to simply to remove red tiles before they cause the game to end. In action mode, one can scramble the tiles even when red tiles appear at the bottom of the game board (unlike in classic mode), but one loses the ability to do so if there are too many red tiles on the board.

The title features a separate high score "Hall of Fame" for each of the two modes.

External links

* [http://www.popcap.com/games/bookworm "Bookworm" at PopCap Games]
* [http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/2455/bookworm-adventures/index.html?afcode=af735986348d "Bookworm Excite" at BigFish Games]