Touchy Words might not be Pretty but Delivers Very Challenging Gameplay & Compulsive Addiction!
by Paul Wilks
Jul 22, 2011 10:37 AM –
Install
Touchy Words is a very simple word-creation game. In some ways similar to Scrabble or Words With Friends, Touchy Words gives you a maximum of of 64 letters to create as many words as possible. The longer the word the more points it gets, each letter having a number of points depending on its difficulty to use. The game is very simplistic, the graphics are very basic indeed, however it is very easy to pick-up-and-play. Despite this being, for all wants and purposes a very average word game, I have found it is chronically and magnetically addictive and unlike no other word game.
Price: Free
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Very, and I mean very, addictive.
- Easy to play and understand.
- Good concept.
- Only 64 letters to work with it’s a very quick game to play.
- It’s a free game with no ads.
- Collects your individual playing stats.
Cons
- Graphics are very simplistic.
- Doesn’t use a typical Scrabble dictionary, thus some famous Scrabble words fail.
- Few sharing options or settings.
Features:
Touchy Words is a rather average word game, relatively original in concept for the Android market but a similar kind of idea to Scrabble in that you essentially have a rack of tiled letters for you to create words with. However, unlike Scrabble and Words With Friends you play Touchy Words on your own.
The graphics are incredibly basic and you will find many many word games in the Android Market with far better visuals. It reminded me of the old graphics you used to get on text-based RPG games in the late 1980′s. For younger readers think the underground bits of Super-Mario.
You have 64 letters to work through and these are added to your rack from the left. Obviously you have to wait for a few letters to be added before you can start making words, but you can tap the timer to introduce the next letter immediately if you wish. Touch the letters to select and the word is built in the section at the top of the screen. When done, tap the green tick in the top right of the screen and the word will be added to your score. If you get a word wrong however, the word is deemed ‘not available’ and you essentially lose those letters. Brutal. If you fail to sumbit a word when the rack is full- you have space for 9 letters in total- the timer turns to red and will delete the letter on your right hand side as it introduces the new letter.
Eventually your letters will run out. When this happens the timer turns to red and you have to use the remaining letters as best as you can. If the timer runs down the letter on the left of the screen will vanish and so on until you have finished. One other thing to note, if you clear the board of letters you receive a 10 point bonus.
Your scores are tallied in-game and the High Scores section gives you some handy statistics based on your gameplay. This includes best word, average score, word accuracy, number of games and time spent playing.
Now, while this is a very average word game in looks and features, and despite the presence of some utterly beautiful 3D games available; and games which swamp you with every conceivable option and preference, I have noted that I have racked up about 4 1/2 hours of play time on this game. No mean feat considering each game is only a few minutes long. That’s 70 games I have played. The reason behind this is that Touchy Word is one of the most addictive and compelling games I have ever played.
I’ve always enjoyed word games and have tried dozens on the Android Market and what this game doesn’t dish out in terms of looks, it makes up for in pure unadulterated playability and addictiveness. It really is so simple compared to other word games, basic graphics, no Openfeint scoring or other sharing options. There’s no way to even share your score on Facebook or Twitter. Yet the game draws me back to it over and over again.
The only problematic niggles I have with it are the fact it doesn’t really use a Scrabble dictionary. There are swarthes of good Scrabble words that it doesn’t recognize and this is a real pain, especially when you are trying to get rid of that final ‘Q’!
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Touchy Words – Start of new game.
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Touchy Words – Long words earn you more points
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Touchy Words – Yellow timer at bottom, tap this to get next letter
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Touchy Words – Word in produced order on left, score order on right
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Touchy Words – Timer goes red when you run out of space, deletes from left.
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Touchy Words – Selcted letters turn pink. Touch again to deselect.
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Touchy Words – Points build up in the centre
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Touchy Words – Game over screen with summary
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Touchy Words – Pause screen
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Touchy Words – High scores
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Touchy Words – Main screen
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Touchy Word – Menu
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Touchy Words – Share
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Touchy Words – Contact
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Touchy Words – Settings
Fun Factor:
You concentrate so much when playing this it doesn’t feel like fun. But beating your previous score is a real high. The game presents a keen challenge for wordsmiths and Scrabblers alike.
Addictive:
Massively addictive, I have opted to play this game in the fleeting opportunities to play Touchy Words over much better (graphical) games. For me, this is the real pull of this game. Touchy Words might not be pretty but it delivers very challenging gameplay and compulsive addiction in buckets.
Graphics:
To be honest, the graphics are woeful in comparison to other games, even other word games in the Android Market. They really are very simplistic. For fans of word games though, no not let this put you off.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
No accelerometer, no vibration and no sound. You play in complete silence. Although I am unsure exactly what these would add to the game.