If you finger can trace it, it counts.
For a search-a-word game to compete with the thousands of other iPhone apps, it had better bring something new to the table. Wurdle, a deceptively addictive app, remakes Boggle-style play for the 21st century; It feels new enough to fall in love all over again.
The concept is still simple; find as many words as possible in a grid that's between four and eight blocks wide. Don’t like the pattern? Shake it up, literally. Don’t like orange or pink tiles? Add your own background photo. Want more of a challenge? Increase the minimum word length or decrease the timer. Wurdle's options spell F-L-E-X-I-B-L-E.
Wurdle doesn’t supply a list of words to find, but allows your mind to wander, creating an intense learning curve for newbies. Many words are formed in twisting, jagged patterns of touching tiles, and it takes more than a few games to catch on. The longest words are recorded for posterity, and top scores are saved on the Semi Secret website so other iPhone users can see how verbose (or vocabulary-challenged) you are.
We had fun but wanted a few more options. Without a list, Wurdle misses a search-a-word style game, especially when timer-less play is switched on. And we wanted to connect online for multiplayer games, but Wurdle is a solitary experience; even the pass-and-play option isn't as fun as we remember Boggle to be.
Wurdle will easily fill those two-to-three minute gaps of boredom in your day, and you might learn something, too.
Fun tracing interface. Nice twist on a classic game type. Addictive.
Difficult to get started without a word list. Lacks online multiplayer modes.
