Did you know that word games travel in pairs? It's true, and if you've read our review of Word Puzzles by POWGI on Wii U , then you've already got a head start on this review of Word Puzzles by POWGI on 3DS - its portable counterpart.
It's a pretty direct port, featuring the same puzzles across the same 6 game modes that put a much more unique spin on the typical wordsearches and jumbles. The graphics and music are pretty much identical, though music quality in particular takes an unfortunate hit when compared to the Wii U. Even so, aesthetics aren't the focus here so you can tune it out while focusing on the core gameplay.
Using the stylus is as intuitive as ever, and the game's amiibo functionality (for those with a New 3DS or an NFC reader) is still available and underwhelming - if a neat distraction for a moment or two. Using hints still helps you out when you're stuck, and skipping around the selection of 480 puzzles at will makes this an accessible choice for killing time on the move. Prove to the stranger on the bus next to you that you CAN find 5 different types of animal noises before reaching your stop!
While there isn't any kind of 3D integration, we feel that the 3DS version still has the edge due to the pick-up-and-play nature of the game itself. Cross-buy means that you'll unlock both versions regardless, but for our money we'd rather take this collection of quick puzzles off the big screen. Streetpass will let you share your progress as well, for limited bragging rights.
Conclusion
Word Puzzles is a simple game with modest goals.Whether it will appeal to you or not depends entirely on how much you enjoy word-based puzzle games, but it offers up a range of modes that should last you quite a while if it sounds like fun. For this reason; we reckon its better suited to the 3DS and shorter bouts of handheld braininess - if 6.5 existed on our scale, that's what we'd give it - making this version the one we'll be coming back to for more.
Comments 9
This might be in the review and I could have just missed it, but how much does the game cost? With cross-buy, I'm quite interested in buying it if it's a reasonable price.
@TheHeroOfTime333 It's $10.
This sounds like a fun and interesting game for me, just sounded like a high price for a download, but now that I know it's a cross buy, I may pick it up to enjoy it on both systems.
..like the cross buy and puzzle games, but I'll still wait for a s_le..
@SH007ME We have no plans to discount this title beyond the cross-buy offer.
@chrisnewman s_le
...sorry, that's not the answer we were looking for.. Wanna buy a vowel?...( only $9.99! ) .. Guess it'll have to wait till I've got less on my plate..
Its a good game. I liked Epic Word Search more. That was far more addicting and fun. Epic deserves a second game. Or DLC for the first.
I liked the flower word game the most. The word search with linked words I did not care for the controls sometimes I had a hard time dragging through a word. Epic Word search had better control.
@Eisenbolan Thanks for the feedback, and I'm really glad you enjoyed Epic Word Search. There's definitely another pack of those to come, but we still have a few new games to come before putting a "2" on the end of anything
@chrisnewman thank you for the response. With a new puzzle game how about a KenKen game. There are 0 of these on the 3ds. Sad I know.
Not one we'd considered but I'll give it some thought. Not quite sure how to get a word-y spin on it, but we're already thinking the next POWGI pack will be based on logic puzzles so KenKen could fit.
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