Bookworm Review

When it comes to free online word games, you can't really go wrong with such an excellent offering as Bookworm. The insatiable appetite of this invertebrate will keep you occupied for hours on end as you frantically seek out the lexicon entries hidden among the mass of letter tiles. Check out this Bookworm review for a more in-depth look at this word searching title.

Developed and marketed by PopCap Games, Bookworm presents you with a slightly shifted grid of letter tiles. Your task is to link together a string of letters to form the longest word possible, feeding these juicy tiles to the awaiting librarian-like worm on the left hand side of screen. When the book meter above the bookworm is full, you move on to the next round where the words become a little harder to find, and other challenges may be thrown your way.

This game will appeal mostly to the literati in the audience who enjoy other word-finding and word-forming titles available on the internet, such as Text Twist, Acropolis, and Word Racer. As with other similar games, one of major keys to success is making careful use of the available vowels in the field. This becomes especially true later on in the game where your grid will become more occupied with hard-to-use tiles like V, Z, and Qu, as opposed to more common letters like A, T, and S. Also bear in mind that your entries must be at least three letters in length. Any shorter and the bookworm will reject your response.

As there is no real time limit, you can take as long as you'd like to seek out the best possible move. If you can form words that are six or seven letters long and include high-value letters like Z and J, you will quickly rack up the most points and quickly move on to the next round. Some letters are inherently higher value -- you will be able to distinguish them from the rest of field based on the number of dots they have on the lower-right corner -- but as you progress, you will find bonus tiles that are highlighted in green or even gold. Use these in tandem for the best results.

The graphics are rendered beautifully with very legible letters and an intuitive layout. Everything is displayed in vibrant colors, making for quite the enjoyable word finding session. You won't be wowed by intense three-dimensional visuals or flashy movies, but the simple, cartoony displays are more than adequate for a game of this type. The same can be said about the sound quality in Bookworm. The lack of background music is a little disappointing, but the "crunching" sound effect that comes out each time the worm munches on a word surely will elicit a smirk or a smile on a fairly regular basis. There is nothing too over the top, but nothing to detract from the gameplay experience either.

Ideally, you want to make the longest word possible using the highest valued tiles on the board. At the same time, you want to leave yourself with an adequate supply of options for later moves. The one type of tile to which you should be paying particular attention is the red, flaming one. When a flaming tile reaches the bottom of the screen, the stage is over and the game ends. You don't want that to happen. To prevent it from scorching its way to the bottom, include the fiery tile as part of a word as soon as you can.

For more in the way of strategy, check out our Bookworm Tips and Hints article.

Word games are one of the most popular casual game categories on the internet. They rank right up there with Mah Jong Solitaire and free puzzle games. Some of the more popular word games out there that are similar to Bookworm include:

• WordJong To Go combines the tile-clearing strategies of Mahjong with the word-forming fun of Bookworm.

• Acropolis sends to back to Ancient Greece, challenging you to string letter tiles together to form words in various layouts. Additional elements include "locked" letters, bonus tiles, and more.

• Literati is the free online version of Scrabble, giving you a hand of seven letters, presenting you with the task of maximizing their use to form words of the greatest value. Face off against word geniuses from clear cross the world.

• Video Game Violence Statistics
• History of Video Games Timeline
• Top Strategy Games

• Street Fighter Characters
• Free Online Horse Games
• Nintendogs Cheat Codes: Unlockable Breeds
• Street Fighter Characters 2
• Play Zuma Online for Free

• Yahoo A Series of Unfortunate Events Review
• Yahoo Pool Review
• Westward Review
• Play Bookworm Online
• Bookworm Adventures Review