Spell Tower Review

The objective of Spell Tower {$1.99} is to connect letters to make words, much like a word search game. You can connect them in any direction, but you need three in a row to make a word and you can use a word only once per puzzle. There are specially marked tiles that can only be used in words of four letters or more. When you make a word, the tiles disappear and the columns fall into the empty space. Some letters are colored and if you use them in a word, the entire row of letters disappears.

One nice feature to the game is that it requires you to go through the tutorial. Yes, I said nice feature. It’s more of a game overview than a lengthy tutorial and takes just a few seconds to get through. You cannot play the game until you do. The first mode, Tower Mode, becomes available as soon as you’ve completed it.

Tower Mode presents you with a completely filled-in game board and your job is to clear as much of the board as possible. There’s no music or timer to pressure you. Just make as many words as you can, the longer the better. When you’ve run out of words, tap the corner and your score is tallied. You have to play at least one Tower Mode game to unlock the Puzzle and Rush Modes.

Puzzle Mode starts with five rows at the bottom of the board and every time you make a word, a new row is added to the bottom. You’ll need to be careful of columns growing too tall and do your best to make words evenly across the columns. Game is over when any column reaches the top of the board.

Rush Mode has what amounts to a progress bar for the background and every time it reaches the top, another row is added to the bottom. This mode is a lot like puzzle mode but with a time element added for additional pressure.

(There’s a fourth mode available, but I didn’t get a chance to unlock it.)

The board is clean and clear and easy to read. There is no music and very little for sound effects to interrupt your concentration. When columns grow to near the top (in Puzzle and Rush modes), they change color to warn you of the danger. It’s a nice visual cue, because it’s easy for your attention to be elsewhere.

If you like word games, especially traditional word search games, Spell Tower is going to be right up your alley. It’s a fascinating combination of two classic games that has the makings of being a classic in its own right.

What we like:

• Combines two familiar, classic games
• Different game play modes to suit different play style preferences
• iPad size makes this easy to play (smaller screen might be difficult for “fat fingers”)

What to know:

• Only in portrait orientation, but rotating it might affect the game adversely

We Doodle is an online multiplayer drawing and word-guessing game similar to Charadium for iPhone.

Features:

Join your friends drawing and guessing online in We Doodle. Enjoy turn-based play, which allows you and your friends to play at your own pace! Or play live games against players around the world!

• Invite friends to compete in turn-based drawing and guessing gameplay
• Challenge fellow Plus+ players to furious online matches
• Doodle Assist helps everyone become a finger-sketch master
• Earn points to level up and upgrade your artistic arsenal, unlocking new stencils, brushes and backgrounds
• Complete daily goals to earn extra buckets of experience

We Doodle is a free game and is expected to be available worldwide very soon. Check back soon for a detailed review. If you have a Canadian app store account then head over to App Store to download the game for free and let us know what you think.