Magic Words Arcanum Lite
by Eric March on November 8, 2008 at 11:00 pm
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App Name: Magic Words Arcanum Lite
Developer: Audacity Software Pte. Ltd.
Category: Word Games / RPG & Adventure
Another crossover game much like the original high concept freebie Aurora Feint from the first days of the App Store, which I covered in the very first issue of Frapstr. In Magic Words Arcanum however, bits of Puzzle Quest get mashed up with Bookworm.
Primary gameplay is pretty much entirely Bookworm but with hexagonal tiles, and instead of filling up a meter to advance levels, you’re just eliminating tiles from the board. Eliminated tiles still have letters you can use though, so you can still form words as normal. Longer words score more and can eliminate extra tiles as a bonus. Occasionally jewels will appear on letters. Words formed with jeweled letters will score those jewels, which can be spent on spells which will further aid you in your quest, RPG style.
The graphics are pretty good here, and sounds are decent as well — no complaints on either front, and there are a few nice effects when you score longer words and earn bonuses. However, call me a stodgy old fart, but I don’t really get these RPG-puzzle mashups. RPGs are inherently based on reality, if a fantastical version of it. That’s the point of the whole role playing part of it. It’s supposed to offer a little suspension of disbelief so you can get into the game and the character you’re playing. Puzzles on the other hand are, in general, pretty abstract things. Combining the two is a bit like that episode of Friends where Rachel tries to make an English trifle and ends up inadvertently mixing the recipe with shepherd’s pie — except it doesn’t taste like feet. It’s just kind of weird.
That’s not to say that it isn’t fun, but applying the RPG elements within the scope of a Bookworm-style game requires your brain to bend in ways it wasn’t really designed to in order to understand the concept and learn how to use it properly. Once you do though it’s a fairly interesting game.
This demo version features only two levels to play with — enough to get into the Bookworm aspect, but not really enough to come to terms with the RPG elements in any meaningful way. If you want the full version, you’ll have to shell out a respectable $2.99.
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Posted in Games: RPG & Adventure, Games: Word
