Word Puzzles by POWGI Review

Word Puzzles by POWGI

Release: February 11, 2016
Publisher: Lightwood Games
Developer: Lightwood Games
Genre: Family, Nintendo 3DS Reviews, Other
PEGI: E
Comments:

 

Comment

Lightwood Games loves Word puzzle games. The developer has already created several, with my favorite so far being Word Search by POWGI. Now, Lightwood has gone back to POWGI to deliver another word finding experience for the 3DS and the Wii U with Word Puzzles by POWGI. Is this new game any good? Let’s find out!

Note: the following is a review of both the 3DS and Wii U versions of Word Puzzles for POWGI. The above scores apply to both versions.

Word Puzzles by POWGI is a very corny game. I say this as a good thing though. The corniness of the game’s puzzles and humor are part of its charm. You will groan at some of the solutions (and jokes), but you’ll also smile too.

Word Puzzles by POWGI presents the player with six separate word games: Word Maze, Mixup, Crossovers, Circles, Flowers, and One Word. Each of the games have many categories to choose from. If you are a word puzzle fan, you’ll find a lot of content with this game. Both the Wii U and 3DS versions have the same content. I do wish more time was spent explaining the more complex puzzles in POWGI. There are tutorials but they are not that helpful with games like One Word and Flowers. I’m pretty happy with most of the content though. The best part is that if you have your Wii U connected to your 3DS (or vice versa) and buy the game, you’ll get the other copy for free!

Its too bad, though, that there is no cross saving in this game. Since both games have the same content, it would be great to start a game on the Wii U, transfer it to the 3DS for a road trip (or whatever) and then transfer it back. Still, its nice to not have to buy the other game.

So do these two games differ from each other in any way? Let me talk about the 3DS version first. Word Puzzles for 3DS has a simple (but very nice) interface/visuals and uses the top screen for hints. The touch screen controls on the 3DS version work great. The game also has support for amiibo. If you have a regular 3DS, you’ll need the NFC reader. I have an NFC reader and tried out the amiibo puzzle function. First, you register an amiibo to your 3DS and then you scan it in the game. Then, Word Puzzles will give you a random puzzle using either your name or the nickname of the amiibo. These puzzles are never too hard, but they are always fun. Amiibo function for an Indie game is so rare right now. Lightwood Games introduces and pulls off this unique feature and should be applauded for using it. If you love words and you love amiibo, you’ll definitely love how Word Puzzles by POWGI uses both. There is a lot to like about Word Puzzles, though there is one other minor issue I’d like to talk about.

Word Puzzles by POWGI’s soundtrack is a mixed bag. At first, I thought it was good, but over time, I found myself turning down the sound. The music started to grate on me and made it hard to concentrate on the puzzles. Its not the worst soundtrack ever in a video game, in fact it is very good in small doses. but I recommend just turning down the sound as soon as you can. This comment about the audio definitely applies to both the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game.

Now let’s take a look at the Wii U version of the game.

The Wii U version of Word Puzzles by POWGI has a nicer looking interface/visuals than the 3DS verison. Its touch screen controls work just as well as the 3DS though and there’s Off-TV play if you want to play it just on the gamepad. Word Puzzles for Wii U uses one screen for everything and still looks good. And its easier to use amiibo on the Wii U since the function is built into the gamepad. You’ll still have to register the amiibo first, but the process of scanning and getting the random puzzle is quicker than 3DS. The amiibo puzzle generation on Wii U works well too.

If you’re a word puzzle fan, you’ll enjoy both versions of this game.

Word Puzzles by POWGI is a really good game. There is ton of content, amiiibo support, excellent controls, and you can get two copies of the game for one price! I do wish that the game had better tutorials for its harder games and that the audio was better, but, other than that, I’m pretty happy with the game. If there was a cross save feature, Word Puzzles by POWGI would be absolutely perfect for puzzle fans. That said, if you like word puzzle games, you should buy this game from the eshop(s). Lightwood Games does it again.

Positives

• Lots of content
• Excellent controls
• Uses amiibo
• Good Interface(s)

Negatives

• Wish It Had Better Tutorials
• Audio Could Be Better
• No Cross Save

Trailer