Fun picks on Sunday!

Yeah, I been slackin'. So instead of making you wait another whole week for fun picks, enjoy these ones. Word games have never really been my forte. I tend not to be very good at them and as a result I tend to somewhat avoid them. But here are some really neat ones that even I enjoy. Bonnie’s Bookstore Bonnie’s Bookstore is a charming word puzzle game where you connect letters on different shaped boards to create words. You can “win” wildcards by making words with more letters, or get stuck with a “writer’s block” – which can really get in your way -- by making words with three letters. A handy feature is being able to shuffle the letters around if you get stuck. In the meantime there is a cute story about Bonnie writing children’s books to go with paintings her grandfather left her. Fairy Words Fairy Words has a different type of mechanic in that you start with one word on a grid-like board and then can add letters to the board one at a time. You link letters together to form words, as in other word games I’ve played. What’s fun here is that you might add a letter intending to create one or two words, only to discover a whole plethora of words you have now enabled yourself to create. You are given bonus points for every spot on the grid you don’t actually use, so some strategy is involved here in creating the most words with the fewest number of letters. I am definitely finding this to be an addicting game. Spellagories A really neat example of combining a word/puzzle game with storytelling. Instead of slapping a story on top, all the play in this game is couched within the context of creating words out of letters to make spells which will transform beleagured townspeople back to normal from their half-animal forms. During the day you do your work to help the people, and at night you work your own spells to try to bring low the evil sorcerers who are plaguing the land. You are given scrambled letters that make up a word (sometimes extra letters too) and a category that the word you are looking for fits into. You can make up other words to get points and clues as to what the important word is. Sometimes the words don't fit the categories too well, and there don't seem to be enough words in its vocabulary, but this is nonetheless a well thought out and fun game. Dungeon Scroll This game, plain and simple, rocks. You fight creatures in a dungeon as in an old-school SSI RPG, but you fight them with…WORDS! I don't know the minds behind the concept of this very cool game, but I want what they've been imbibing. Elements of role-playing, word games and strategy help make this a really involving experience.