Customer Reviews

Bookworm

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a excellent educational tool for preschoolers and adults wishing to hone their vocabulary - and a great TV-alternative.

Words have to be recognized and formed from a wall of letters that get refreshed as you progress. Target-words offer extra points whereas, repeatedly forming easy small words is "punished" with the appearance of burning letter-tiles that, if let to reach the bottom, end the game.

This is a perfect example of what has come to be known as Casual Gaming. It would be a good idea to download the 60-min trial version from a site, such as REFLEXIVE (you can Google it), and decide for yourself whether this is indeed your cup of tea.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

I'm not really a game player but, being older, I like to have ways to keep my brain working. This game could take up your whole day if you let it but you can close and come back to a game in progress. The instructions are minimal - I wish, for instance, they had a list of the levels.
Howevery I have two real complaints - Bookworm needs a way to upgrade its vocabulary - sadly lacking in many newer words such as Blog and many others which don't come to mind as I write this.
My last complaint is that Bookworm sometimes jumps the gun - while I'm still keying in letters, it assumes a lesser word and credits me for it. For instance I worked hard to get letters in line for the bonus word of Poise, but as soon as I keyed in the S, it gave me credit for Pois and moved on - no bonus points for me. This happens several times a game.
All of these problems aside, Bookworms still is a consuming game.

I tried this game online for free. After the free trial was up I had become hooked. I had to purchase a hard copy of the game to continue playing.

This occupies a lot of my time when my husbnd hogs the TV playing Madden Football.

If you like Scrabble, you wouuld probably enjoy this word game.

U P D A T E...:

As fans of "BOOKWORM" and "LET'S MAKE A DEAL" may or may not know, the word "ZONK" is recognized and accepted on "BOOKWORM". NO 'zonks' in BOOKWORM, that's for surw! : )

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ


O R I G I N A L.....R E V I E W

BOOKWORM, the computer software game being reviewed here, used to be called "Bespelled". Instead of "Lex The Bookworm" greeting the player, a small, wise-looking, grey-haired little wizard greeted one, and the upper levels of achievement included levels of "Wizard", "Mega-Wizard", etc., instead of "Bookworm".
"Mega-Bookworm", etc. I suspectthat the anti-Harry Potter forces were here more successful, and so "Bespelled" is, sadly, no more, as the "old" version is incompatible with newer computer systems, starting with Windows Vista. A pity, really -- I did like looking at that little guy, (who, unlike Lex the bookworm, WAS human, after all).
The board, (or at least the section inhabited by the Wizard), was a bit better drawn, too -- but why quibble? Just about everything else about this game -- including the voice of "Lex The Bookworm", (which is the same as the little Wizard's voice), is totally the same. And it's always a challenge and a lot of fun!

Basically, in starting the game, one sees letters lined up like bricks
on the screen. The player has to connect those letters that touch each other -- left to right, up to down, down to up, right to left, (or a combination of any of these), to to make words. The main thing is that the letters TOUCH each other. The longer the word the better! After finishing making the word, click on the last
letter or press "Enter". The cumulative "value" of the letters, is added to your score, ("real" will obviously get less points than "onyx", etc.), letters magically disappear, new letters will magically appear to take their place. And so the player has to make more words, and enter them, and see their cumulative points added onto one's total....

Each letter has an assigned value. (On "Bespelled", if I remember correctly, NUMBERS, like "1", "2", or "3" were written on the various tiles, ("N" getting a "1", "X" getting a "3", etc.) Now, one, two or
three DOTS, placed on the lower right hand corner of each tile do the job.

It's important to make words of at least four letters. If one makes too many three letter words, one RED tile, (or more than one!0, will appear. These tiles aren't just red.....they are ANIMATED, in that they seem to have a little yellow FIRE burning at their bottoms, and the rest of the red tile is also in semi-movement. Any letter can come as a red tile. Should just one of these red tiles reach the bottom....the game is OVER! (Just before the end, the expression of Lex -- just like that of the Little Wizard before him -- changes from one of benign and hopeful waiting, to one of extreme anxiety! One can, of course, click on "Lex" himself, thereby "scrambling" the letters, (and getting many new ones) -- but doing this also brings on an incereasing number of red letters, each time the letters are
scrambled.

Every "level" of the game has a certain number of points. When the requisite number of points is reached, a new level, (complete with a picture of the level reached), is shown, along with the best words -- longest word, and word with the greatest number of points -- you have made, is shown, along with the time it took you to be in this level, and the total time you have spent on the game.

To pause the game, so extra time answering the door or telephone, etc., is not included in your total time, just press the space bar. and a "Game Paused / Press Here To Continue" banner will show up. To continue the game, just click the banner....

Other nice things can also happen in this game, too. If you make a particularly good word, a GREEN tile, (or tile), will appear, and using these tiles will give extra points. Makea REALLY good and/or long word, (usually 6 letters or more), and a YELLOW tile will appear....along with Lex's cute little voice, (the same cute little voice as the Little Wizard had), saying things like, "very good", or "excellent", The yellow tiles give even more extra points, and
have a nice slow, animated pulsation. But for the absolute most BEAUTIFUL tile on the board, finad a really diffiult word, (a highly unusual word, or one with eight or more letters on the board, or a really difficult word -- and a shining BLUE tile will appear. This blue tile -- though not the most valuable, (there is a similar, though totally WHITE tile that comes when you can combine two WHITE tiles, or spell a totally long and stupendous word, such as "bookkeeppers"), is to me the most beautiful, as -- unlike with the white tile, one can SEE the contrast between the pretty blue animation, pulsating throughout most of the tile, and the whitish-silvery stars in continual, animated motion throughout these special tiles. They really are spectacular, jewel-like affairs, with corners slightly cut, so that they are not square, but octabon in shape, (as are the more-points gathering, glowing white tiles). When a blue tile appears, Lex the Bookworm says something like, "Unbelievable", or "Astonishing", When a pulsating White tile appears, the words "Astounding", or "Unbelievable" are said. And when a blue or white tile is finally used, it goes out in a "blaze of glory", as little stars appear and disappear in their wakes.

I've noticed, as I play, that some very common words are just not (yet?) accepted on "Bookworm". Some may be due to the rule in Scrabble, that proper Names, are NOT accepted, and some may not be accepted due to today's "political correctness" -- but others are truly baffling to me, as to why they are not accepted. Herewith is list of words I tried to use, but which would not add up to ANY points, at least, not the last time I tried them:

Boner
Freon
Latin
Barb
Maori
Mung
Diem
Satan
Svelt
Wicca
Velt
Varmit
Yorkie
Dixie

However, many words which I did NOT expect to be accepted, WERE accepted! Many of these are "foreign" words -- and a good number of these are Yiddish words. I guess I'm lucky in that I grew up amongst parents, aunts and uncles who spoke a bit of Yiddish, but my American sense of "fair-play" simply won't let me write this review without mentioning this -- or the fact some Spanish words, which have become more and more commonly used in English, (at least, American English),
have not been accepted -- words such as "hola". Herewith a list of words that ARE accepted, which I think should not be accepted...at least in the English version of "Bookworm":

Tref - (means "not knosher")
Moil - (a person who performs religious circumcison)
Gelt - (money given to children on Chanuka),
Gonif - (a thief)
Daven - (praying)
Golem - (legendary man of clay, created by a rabbi, who saved a
Jewish community in Europe)
Parev - (a food which can be eaten either with milk, or with meat
products -- like tea, or fish)
Shul - (a synagogue)
Goy - (literally means "stranger", a word perjoratively used to
describe non-Jews, and never a compliment, to say
the least!)

Another word which is accepted is: "sended". This is merely bad
English -- but it doesn't belong in 'Bookworm', either. I'm sure there are other words in both categories I haven't mentioned, as I have not yet come across them.

It's possible, of course, that putting all these Yiddish expressions in "Bookworm" was a way of the creators of the game to inject what is
often called an "Easter Egg" into this software.....a little special
gift, for those who know how to use it. I think "Easter Eggs" in software are really wonderful surprises : ) -- but not in competitive games, (some of which, like Bookworm, can be played for cash!), where the advantage is ONLY to those cognizant of some words in one foreign language! : (

In sum, BOOKWORM is fun! It's also educational, (some word meanings are briefly shown -- others have sent me to online dictionaries to find their meanings). And for older people, who fear, (often unnecessarily), that their mental facilities may be fading, a daily "workout" with "Bookworm" can be not only fun and rewarding -- but re-assuring, as well. The fact is, most older people DON'T grow senile, (Churchill, Eisenhower, Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt and Millicent Fenwick....even the Queen Mother! -- amongst many, many, MANY others, never did!). Like other silly and dangerous ideas in the "common wisdom" of today, (such as the idea that all adult children who live in their parents homes unless and until they marry are somehow unable to think and live by themselves if they chose to ....an idea given the "Big Lie", by famous people -- like Athina Onassis, and Alex Trebeck....who CHOSE to live with their parents until they got married, though they didn't have to -- the idea that
one will PROBABLY get senile as one gets older is ITSELF "senile"....and dangerous and worrying to a lot of seniors for whom this idea couldn't be farther from the truth! Lest we forget, younger people ALSO get Alzheimer's and other diseases of senility!
And a fully-functioning Human Being -- of whatever age -- will,
aided by their physicians, FIGHT any ailment, physical or mental -- that MIGHT come their way! Being positive about oneself and one's
abilities, is the first step to defeating or post-poning the ravages of ANY ailment. And -- for increasing one's mental abilities, in the most enjoyable and challenging of ways -- games such as 'BOOKWORM' are
absolutely wonderful!

I first played Bookworm on the Popcap website years ago, then bought Bookworm Deluxe on disc shortly after for my computer (Windows XP Home). When I got my new computer (Windows 7 Home), I couldn't get the game to download or work from the same disc, even with compatibility mode, and figured that was that. Then I saw Bookworm advertised on here as being compatible up to and including Windows Vista, so I figured I'd give it a try; I was missing my favorite game, and if it didn't work, the price would be no great loss. Well, it's downloaded and installed, no need to use compatibility mode, and runs like a charm. No problems at all. By the way, although the packaging says "Bookworm" (which is the bare-bones version I first played on the Popcap website), it is Bookworm Deluxe.

Bookworm is a good game for any thinker. The premise is easy. Anyone that can spell a three-letter word can win at this game. The more words you learn, the better the scores. As your vocabulary grows, the more you score. The more you score, the more you want to play. The more a kid scores, the more a kid wants to learn so they can score more. Kids are competitive. They all want to be good at something, so they try to outdo everyone when they can. It's educational, fun, and easy for beginners to learn and be successful fast. You can't get better than that!

Bookworm is such a great game. My whole family plays it and my friends all bought one for themselves.

I got it for my husband for Father's Day and he LOVED it!!!!! He wants to buy more to use for his students at school. It's fun with a little education involved.... :)

Fun game that makes you use your brain for optimal scores. It is great for kids and adults alike.

this is a great game. as fast moving as you want it to be, and keeps your mind working. i also like the kid's version.. wish this one had that version or something similar as an alternate game on it.