Bookworm

by PopCap Games

Product Features

• Boost scores and advance faster with Bonus Words and Reward Tiles and save your high scores and track your progress with the Lex-Ray.
• Form words from 20 themed book collections and unlock 18 rooms to build your customized libraries.
• Flex your lexicon in three game modes ? classic, action and wireless multiplayer.
• Pick up and play -- it's easy to start working wordy wonders in seconds.
• Unlimited levels to keep you rising up the ranks in the Hall of Fame.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002KJCVYW
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches ; 2.9 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: December 8, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,397 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #8 in Video Games > Nintendo DS > Puzzle
  • #77 in Video Games > Nintendo DS > All Games

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

A high-energy word puzzle game hosted by Lex the bookworm, Bookworm for DS/DSi challenges players use their vocabulary to create words from a play area of cascading individual letters. Time is of the essence though, as the play area contains red glowing letter tiles, that if unused will "burn down" the player's library if they reach the bottom of the screen, ending the game. The DS/DSi version of Bookworm contains the the same addictive action gamers have craved since the game appeared for PC, but also includes improvements like a wireless multiplayer mode and unlimited levels. Bookworm Comes to DS and DSi Have an appetite for words? Then join Lex the Bookworm in the hit word puzzle game Bookworm created by PopCap for your Nintendo DS and DSi. Link letter tiles left, right, up and down to spell words and keep your bookworm smiling. In addition, players can spell words to fill your bookshelves, unlock 20 themed folios and build out 18 unique library rooms. Boost your score using bonus words and Word of the Day, then track your progress with the all-new Lex-Ray to see how big your Bookworm brain can be. Join your pal Lex in Bookworm for DS. Game Modes Work wordy wonders in three game modes: start with Classic for the most popular Bookworm experience. When you’re ready to test your skills, speed through the fast-paced Action mode. And if you want to compete with friends, match wits in Multiplayer mode. No matter which mode you like best, you’ll relax and tune up your brain every time you play. Key Game Features Form words from 20 themed book collections Unlock 18 rooms to build your library. Flex your lexicon in three game modes – classic, action and wireless multiplayer. Customize your game backgrounds with your libraries. Pick up and play -- it's easy to start working wordy wonders in seconds. Unlimited levels to keep you rising up the ranks in the Hall of Fame. Boost scores and advance faster with Bonus Words and Reward Tiles. Save your high scores and track your progress with the Lex-Ray. Screenshots: 18 unlockable rooms. View larger. Built-in stats functionality. View larger. Unlimited levels. View larger. 20 themed book collections. View larger.

Product Description

Have an appetite for words? Then join Lex the Bookworm in the hit word puzzle game created by PopCap for your Nintendo DS! Link letter tiles left, right, up and down to spell words and keep your bookworm smiling. Spell words to fill your bookshelves, unlock 20 themed folios, and build out 18 unique library rooms. Boost your score using Word of the Day then track your progress with the all-new Lex-Ray to see how big your Bookworm brain can be! Work wordy wonders in three game modes: Start with Classic for the most popular Bookworm experience. When you're ready to test your skills, speed through the fast-paced Action mode. And if you want to compete with friends, match wits in Multiplayer mode. No matter which mode you like best, you'll relax and tune up your brain every time you play!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good puzzle game, but harsh penalty system may be off-putting, December 27, 2009

By 

buru buru piggu (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Bookworm (Video Game)

(What's this?)

From PopCap Games, makers of the fun and addictive Zuma and Plants vs Zombies, comes Bookworm, another challenging puzzle game for casual players. It's a good way to work your brain as well as make the time go faster on commutes, while waiting at the doctor's office, or exercising on the treadmill.

The idea is simple. The goal is to string together tiles to form words of 3 letters or more. The longer the word, the bigger the score. A free Flash version is available on PopCap's website, but the DS version has many more features, like an Arcade Mode, Library, and 2 Players Mode. You only need 1 copy of the game to play against a friend. In the Library, you can keep track of your stats like how many words you created, secret word books, and room backgrounds you've unlocked. All together, there are 20 secret books to unlock, with 12 words each. It's very hard to get all the words, and there's no reward of any kind for completing each book, besides bonus points. You don't get any special animation, fun pictures, or unlockable secret options. Zilch.

One thing I don't like is that you have to hold the DS sideways, like a book. Very few games do this (most notably, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword and Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!) and there's really no reason for it. The gameboard could simply have been arranged horizontally to allow ambidextrous play. I find it less comfortable to hold the DS upright, and it also prevents lefties from playing.

Another big design flaw is the harsh penalty system. Burning tiles will start falling with increasing frequency if you make 3 letter words. The chance of being penalized rises with each level, and by 10+, I'm getting penalized almost with 100% probability. If you don't clear them right away, they'll start burning down your column of tiles. When they reach the bottom, it's game over. It is not explained in the manual that the game penalizes you for short words. At lower levels, this is infrequent, but at higher levels (9+), this becomes a huge turn-off, as almost every 3-letter word causes a fire tile to appear, making this game unfit for younger kids with limited vocabularies. Sometimes 4-5 letter words cause fire tiles. Then it degenerates into a frustrating game of clearing the penalty letters first instead of leisurely clearing letters to make words at your own pace.

To make things worse, the letters are not weighted, so you're just as likely to get a tough letter like J, V, Qu, X, Y, or Z as you are to get a commonly used and easier to combine letter like R, S, T, L, N, E. For example, I got 3 burning V's in a row in one game. When you clear a column of letters, if you are going to be penalized, the red tile will always appear at the bottom of the new stack of falling letters. If you are stuck, you can scramble the board an unlimited number of times, but this penalizes you by also dropping burning tiles. By level 10, I'm getting 4 burning tiles with each scramble. At higher levels, I got 6 or 7 burning tiles. If you need to scramble the board, that means you are stuck with bad letters that you can't combine. But scrambling causes you to be put in an even worse situation. A scramble is seldom ever helpful. It doesn't simply rearrange all the existing letters on the board. It shuffles all the tiles randomly into new letters. Secondly, it is counted as a turn, so any burning letters already on the board will burn down 1 block after the scramble. I find this sadistic and not fun at all. Players should not be punished for playing. A better system would have been to give you a finite number of scrambles (like 3), which you can use at any time without penalty, then let you earn more as you hit score milestones (say, every 20,000 points).

Unlike the online version, there's no way to tell how much the letters are worth. The web version has dots under the letters to indicate their worth (1 to 3 dots). The DS version only shows you the points after you create a word.

Lastly is the strange dictionary where words like "Luo (an African tribe), haka (traditional Maori dance), loa (Haitian voodoo spirits), lek and som (unit of money in Albania and Kyrgyzstan, respectively) are accepted, but words like "India", "Rome", "dork", and "dong" (Vietnamese currency unit) and not. "Moo" (cow sound) is accepted, but "poof" and "Saturn" are not. With certain words, a definition pops up, but I am at a loss to explain how these words were chosen. Usually, these are very obscure 3-4 letter words, like "qua", international monetary units, or little-known animals, and names of esoteric native peoples. "Vat" is defined as a tax (value added tax) instead of the more common meaning of "container" (like "a vat of chocolate"). No definition is given for longer words.

Verdict: it's fun for a little while, but gameplay gets very repetitive. The overly-punishing penalty system really drags down my rating, and makes this game too difficult for younger players. At higher levels, it's no longer very much fun due to the frequency of the fire tiles and lack of a rich reward system. The music is also monotonous and somewhat irritating. It's very low-fi sounding and one of the percussion instruments just sounds like static. Overall, it's fun for maybe 30 minutes at a time only.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent DS adaptation!, December 12, 2009

By 

ojh333 "ojh333" (USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bookworm (Video Game)

I love Bookworm online, as well as the deluxe version for PC and Mac, so I was very excited to try it on my DS, since I can take it anywhere. I am thrilled with it! Everything you love about Bookworm is here, along with a few extra fun things.

Create words from the adjacent tiles to clear them from the board and earn points and books to put on shelves in your library. As you earn books and fill the shelves, you fill up and complete rooms in your library. Each room has a different theme and you get a little bonus when each is finished. As you complete more rooms, your library expands. You can visit the rooms on your map and see what you have accomplished!

My favorite new and challenging feature is collecting books and words. There are twenty books, each containing twelve words. When you create a word in one of the books, the book is unlocked and you can see the rest of the words needed to complete the book. For example, I unlocked the book "Insects" by making the word "ant". To complete the book I need to create "bee, wasp, roach, ladybug", etc. This is not as easy as it seems!! There are many fun collections to complete, and while I haven't finished a book yet, I imagine there will be a fun bonus when I do! Books are easily accessible from the main screen so you can check to see which books still needs words, and what words are needed.

My only teeny tiny complaint with this game is barely a blip on the radar, however I'm just a slight bit annoyed that when clearing tiles an extra tap is required after the word is finished. On the computer version, holding the mouse button while making words, and then just releasing it will clear the word. While holding the stylus to make the word on the DS, it has to be lifted and then tapped at the end of the word. Very picky, but it is what it is.

There is not a left-handed option on this game that I can find. That seems an obvious necessity, but for some reason was not included in this version.

Overall this game is fantastic, I am completely addicted!!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Merging Fun and Learning, January 17, 2010

By 

Ed (Surprise, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Bookworm (Video Game)

(What's this?)

Thought this would be something educational for our five year old grandson. He is a DS lover and most of the games he has are age appropriate for him. When this arrived and I read the cover etc. I was convinced this should be for older children who are further along on the learning curve. The previous reviews left me feeling a little "iffy" as apparently some kids take to this and others not so well. When he first started playing, I think he was getting a little frustrated and was concerned that it was a waste of money. I spent just a small amount time with him hoping to instill a bit of confidence. Was not much longer and he was off and on his own, having a lot of fun. Fun while being challenged and learning at the same just seems to make this a great item for kids. I know all kids will not find this at the same action fun level as other games and possibly frustrating. Spending the time with him at the very beginning, I think, made this a very worthwhile and fun experience. Hoping you will find this as rewarding as I.