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Thomas and the Magical Words |
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Developer: ViquaGames Publisher: ViquaGames Genre: Puzzle & Casual > Word Released: Sep 22, 2005 Players: 1 |
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Thomas' only way out is to build bridges made of words and letters to cross the treacherous gaps in the various chapters of the book, which the player has to build using small tiles with letters on them, much like in the popular board game Scrabble. On his way through the book's innards, he discovers that quite a few of the magical animals from the pet store have been trapped in the book as well, equally affected by his uncle's spell and held captive by the book's malicious spirit, Sbooky.
The game has a very good tutorial, guiding beginning players through the first levels step by step, explaining the various on-screen areas in verbose detail. The player learns to use the various magical tiles to create words whilst trying to beat an initially generous, but later more and more challenging time limit. Thomas and the Magical Words also provides a dictionary and a small encyclopedia to look up words created and pets found by Thomas on his journey out of Sbooky's realm.
Players may choose between Adventure and Survival modes, the latter being a more challenging variant of the game without the many intermissions from the adventure game and with slightly different rules. In short, the goal in Survival mode is to create as many word bridges as possible before the time limit ultimately runs out.
Graphics: 9
Thomas and the Magical Words has very colourful hand-painted graphics, which go together well and are suited for gamers young and old alike. The developers went to some length to make this basically static game look as alive as possible – butterflies hover over the playing field, an idle Thomas will sit down to study a spell book, and colourful sparks and flashes indicate success. Some of the animations are a little chunky, but this is a negligible flaw. The game also has a lot of illustrations for the intermission screens, and it looks quite polished with regard to the visual aspects.
Sound: 8
The game's music and sound effects are decent. The soundtrack is a nice selection of folk music pieces that go well with the game. Thomas' voice is well-recorded, though he doesn't say much beyond “Ready? Go!� and “Yaaah!�.
Game Play: 8
What an original game! Thomas and the Magical Words seems to be the best Scrabble spin-off I've seen on a computer recently, and it's a lot of fun to play. I cannot say this is a perfect 10, though, for the following reasons:
On the one hand, the game's dictionary contains some 'words' that don't seem to be words and for which it doesn't even provide a definition. Then, it contains lots of abbreviations, as well as the periodic table of elements, which makes for an abundance of two-letter words, which can, once set down on the playing field, make adding more letters to the puzzle increasingly difficult. Last, the dictionary might probably not be appropriate for all audiences: A lot of four letter words are recognized and have an (appropriate) explanation in the dictionary, but words such as “June� seem to be missing.
The game's visuals seem to primarily appeal to younger audiences, but in fact, the words required to score in later levels and the overall complexity of the game (it includes a lot of special tiles and magical tools, as well as some short mini games) make Thomas and the Magical Words more suitable for teens and adults. It turns out to be a quite challenging game even for oldsters and long time Scrabble fans.
Value: 8
For about $20, you get a game that has lots of levels and a very nice look and feel to it. Lots of features have been included to make the game more playable – for instance, there are at least three different ways to drag the tiles from the rack to the playing field to form the words, including one way that doesn't use the mouse at all. The graphics and music are produced with lots of love, and Thomas and the Magical Words will even work well as a family game because it supports multiple player profiles, allowing individuals to save their own progress and high scores as they play.
Concept: 9
Thomas and the Magical Words is one of the best word puzzling games available on the PC at the moment, with a very unique setting and a gentle learning curve. There aren't any rough edges per se, and the few minor flaws about the dictionary don't mar the overall impression that this is a game with both a great concept and a great implementation of that concept. Notably, on the technical side, the System requirements are very modest.
Fun: 8
This is a game that you can play casually during a coffee break or for an hour or two straight: It never fails to entertain. A generous helping of positive feedback awaits the players before, during and after each level, encouraging them to move on or experiment with new words. Thomas and the Magical Words also offers a lot of “oh, I didn't realize that� experiences through its detailed dictionary feature.
Overall: 8
Thomas and the Magical Words is a well-polished game for (almost) all audiences that is a lot of fun to play and watch. The illustrations are detailed and of outstanding quality, and the game play is fun and entertaining. An absolute must-have if you enjoy word or puzzle games!
By: Moritz Voss
Posted: Friday March 10, 2006
Posted: Friday March 10, 2006
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