Route Words – Simple Yet Addictive & Challenging Word Game
by Paul Wilks
Sep 26, 2011 8:45 AM –
Install
Route Words is an engaging word puzzle game with a smooth interface and challenging gameplay. Simply use the tiles to create as many new words as possible within a set time. Simple concept, loads of fun and incredibly addictive!
Price: Free, $0.99
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Simple yet challenging gameplay!
- Addictive!
- 4 difficulty settings & 3 modes!
- Smooth interface!
- Atmospheric music!
Cons
- You have to press the games own ‘Back’ button to visit a previous screen, if you’re not used to that you’re going to continually press your phones back button and come out of the game.
- Stopping the game isn’t very straightforward. I often left the game only for the music to keep playing.
Features:
I do love a good word game! Although most such games provide the simplistic fare of creating words out of a jumble of letters- and Route Words is no different here- I love the challenge of it, the differing formats, rewards and the clever frameworks these kind of games demonstrate.
Route Words sits comfortably among the best word games on Android Market for a number of reasons. The game interface is smooth, fast and well developed, buttons are responsive and transitions have a really cool feel to them. As ever, the aim of the game is to create as many words as you can with the letters available to you. With Route Words you have a whole grid of tiles available so you shouldn’t run out of words to create. If you incorporate tough-to-use letters, like ‘Z’, the game rewards you with a starred letter. If you then use this letter, the word score is multiplied, 2x, 4x or 8x depending on the color of the star. The bigger and better the words, the higher the score. At the end of the level you are awarded your score alongside a grade from A-F.
The game isn’t just for Scrabble champions and legendary wordsmiths either- there are 4 difficulty settings available so anyone can play; there is Noob, Easy, Hard and Ace. You can also set the game time to 3, 5, 10 or 30 minutes, so there’s good customization available to tweak depending on your preferences.
Route Words also presents 3 different modes of play:
- Classic mode – this offers straightforward gameplay, create as many words as possible in the time allotted. Once used, letters change.
- Static mode – similar to Classic mode but instead the letters stay the same. You can only use a word once, so you must create different words each time.
- Cyclic mode – Identical to Classic mode although when the letters change, they advance through the alphabet. Therefore, use an A and it will become B, use a B and it will become C and so forth.
The only niggles I had with the game were very minor and didn’t affect gameplay. To go back to a previous screen you have to press the in-game ‘Back’ button, if you use the phones back button you leave the game. Frustrating if you forget! However, if you play the game often you soon get used to it. Also leaving the game isn’t wholly intuitive- there isn’t a ‘Exit Game’ option and when you do leave, the music sometimes continues to play.
These small things aside, Route Words ticks all the boxes a gameplaying wordie might want for his or her next gaming fix. Easy to play, tough to master and compulsively addictive.
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Route Words – Gameboard view
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Route Words – Gameboard view 2
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Route Words – Gameboard view 3
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Route Words – Gameboard view 4
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Route Words – Gameboard view 5
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Route Words – Result screen
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Route Words – Result screen 2
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Route Words – Menu
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Route Words – Options
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Route Words – Instructions
Fun Factor:
Route Words is lots of fun and the different modes each offer new challenges. The joy of the game comes from how easy it is to play and the way in which you compete against yourself to better you previous scores. It’s one of those games which is easy to pick up and play, but hard to put down!
Addictive:
With the different modes and way you get ‘graded’ at the end of each game, Route Words is an incredibly addictive game. As you can set the game time as you wish, you can play for as long as you like; if you only have 3 minutes you can turn that into a game. It’s great for a simple distraction that tests word knowledge and challenges your vocabulary. I’ve found myself picking it up at the random-est of times and having a go.
Graphics:
I feel that graphics in word games are mixed bag. Games like Words With Friends have awesome graphics but the game was so rife with bugs it became almost unplayable for me. While Route Words doesn’t have the best graphics in the world they are still pretty cool- they look smooth, in a smart and futuristic styling. Above all they are responsive and fast- this is quite important if you are only playing for 3 minutes!
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
The sound is good- light pings when you get a word or slightly derisory bleeps when the word isn’t accepted by the dictionary. The music is a kind of slightly ominous and challenging futuristic sound-scape which works well with the game. To be honest it reminded me a little of the music from gameshows like “Who Want’s To Be Millionaire” and “Weakest Link”. 