Word game fans, rejoice! ‘Bookworm’ now portable

The easy-to-pick-up-yet-incredibly-difficult-to-put-down puzzler on the web and PC is now ready for travel. There goes my relaxing airplane rides.

The easy-to-pick-up-yet-incredibly-difficult-to-put-down puzzler on the web and PC is now ready for travel. There goes my relaxing airplane rides.

PopCap Games' Bookworm for iPod touch and iPhone is faithful to its popular predecessors, and includes a host of new and exclusive features, too.

In case you’ve never played the award-winning word game, Bookworm features a grid of randomly-placed letters and it’s your job to create words out of them. The letters must be adjacent to one another, so you'll start with one letter and drag your fingertip across touching letters to form a word, such as B-O-O-K-W-O-R-M.

Once completed, tap the last letter on the word chain (or the top of the screen) and you'll collect points towards your total. The longer the word or the higher the letter value (think Scrabble), the more points you’ll earn.  Special coloured tiles also add bonus points if you can use them in your word.  Burning tiles, which make its way to the bottom of the grid, must be used in a word or it's game over. If you need some help you can shake the iPhone or iPod touch to scramble letters.

Another exclusive in this mobile version is the option to turn the device sideways to view your progress, best words created (longest and highest points) and the option to peek at the "bonus bookshelf" lists — a collection of words you can try and make in categories such as food, colours or animals.

Two modes are included — Classic and Action — the latter of which adds a timed element. This game's built-in dictionary includes nearly all the words found in the Oxford English Dictionary (more than 170,000 in total). At many times throughout the game the player will see the definition of a word they just created, shown at the top of the screen. Clever!

Too bad there isn't an online component or downloadable word packs based on theme (as in the "bonus bookshelf" feature) but Bookworm for iPhone and iPod touch is an extraordinary pick for on-the-go wordsmiths nonetheless. And for under $5, it's a steal.            

Filed Under: Computers & Software > Games > Handhelds > Mobile Apps