In the midst of developing a word game, i would like to find out from all of you: - What makes you play a WORD game? - What features would you like to find in WORD games? - Multiplayer mode? - Themes? - Leaderboard? - Innovative and original gameplay? - A timer? - Playing against the AI? - Languages implementation? Anything else that you guys can think of will be helpful.. Thanks.
It's hard to directly say what makes a word game good, Some word games bore me to death, and others have me glued for hours, I guess one main thing for me, would be polish and cute characters. I've always loved bookworm Text twist 2 is good but I don't like the design as much, Wordsworth HD have a beautiful design with the honeycomb background, That's actually what convinced me to get the game in the first place, (the iPhone version of wordsworth doent have the honeycomb for some reason) I think you should think up a nice polished design like wordsworth and that alone can drag people in to play and get addicted. Universal is always a plus Leaderboards is a must I order the games where you have to make words from a full board of letters (like bookworm) rather then the anagrams type games, But those are nice too,there's just so many of them..
- What makes you play a WORD game? I'm initially attracted by graphics, something different, with character or bling. - What features would you like to find in WORD games? Statistics, decent dictionary, customizable, multiplayer mode, levels, sound efx, universal, achievements or the ability to earn something (either to use in game or just to collect). - Multiplayer mode? Definately - Themes? That would be cool, maybe earned as an acheivement. - Leaderboard? No, I prefer levels. I want to be able to play and know if the person is a higher, lower or same skill level as myself. - Innovative and original gameplay? Yes,absolutely. I'm sick of scrabble clones. - A timer? Only if I can choose to play without it. I don't care for timers. - Playing against the AI? If there is AI, I'd like to be able to choose between different playing styles. From easy to challenging. - Languages implementation? Not something I'd need.
good stuff i can use Inked. So far i have all that except Universal mode. Working on that part. May be releasing a BETA version next week. If you want, i can add you into the mix you too.. CatsMeow...
I's really like to see an RPG/stat system that is kept over time. There arent really any Word games on iOS that do that except for Dungeon Scroll.
For me, '7 Little Words' is the best word game I've played. I go on it every day to try and complete each level. The things I like are: Quick gameplay = from 10 seconds to 10 minutes or even hours. You only need one word at a time. Originality = I like the way you're given the chunks of letters so you know roughly what you're working with. Simplicity = press the buttons in the right sequence to make a word and press 'guess'. Some word games have elaborate methods of play! Lots of levels, all unlocked = If I get stuck, I can move onto any level I want. Chances are, if you had to unlock each level and I got stuck, I'd not play the game again. Difficulty = not too hard, not too easy. Some words come to you in an instant, and others require a more lateral approach. I don't feel I need any reward for finishing a level - leaderboards are not needed IMO. The smiley face at the end is all I need! A decent lite version = gives substantial amount of levels for free to get a true feel for what the game is like, and then an option to buy more. I feel glad to support the dev, too, when they aren't afraid to give their game away free. Graphics aren't everything, nor are themes. It's a word game - printed in newspapers for dozens of years in black and white; we don't now need whizzy lights!! '7 Little Words' has a basic greeny/brown background with black simple font. Hope this helps you in some way! And good luck with the game, I'm sure it'll be a hit Edit: One more thing - where '7 Little Words' is a problem, is cultural/geographical boundaries - some people don't know what tax America has, so a clue about that is not helpful. So stick to generic, worldwide clues that anyone can understand.
Personally I really love word games that expand my vocabulary. Word games should be about having fun and making you think at the same time. I also love a great statistics system in my word games. Average score, max word length, words played, etc etc etc. Leveling systems can be great also, but only if they are actually warranted. When I get to a computer next I will more properly answer your questions.
I play "Abca" (formerly "Lexic") quite a bit. I don't like timers unless they're optional. The mode I play in Abca gives you no time limit, but it has a feature where certain letters must be used within five turns/words or else they explode and the game ends. It's a cool way of adding some pressure and urgency to things without having an arbitrary time constraint.
