Word Soup is a causal but challenging puzzle game which will test your word power and also your dexterity a little bit too.
Unusually in this digital age, the game originally became a hit thanks to British pub-goers.
Gaining popularity on coin-op terminals in 2003, Word Soup went on to become installed in 30,000 boozers.
It has now been reworked by Fuzzy Bug Interactive for mobile devices and made available for iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry.
The game reminds me a lot of PopCap’s hit word game Bookworm.
You’re given a large wordsearch-style grid of jumbled letters and tasked with chaining them together to form words. Create long words horizontally, vertically and diagonally to score big points.
The letters used in each word disappear from the grid and letters above them fall down to fill the gaps.
In all but one of the game modes, the grid does not refill as letters are removed so spaces near the top soon start to appear. Tilting your device, you can use these empty spaces by sliding rows of letters across the screen to create new word possibilities.
This tool combined with letters falling each time a word is made adds quite a lot of strategy to the play. Smarter players will try to think a couple of moves ahead and be able to spot when certain letters will become more active. Tactics play a part in achieving high scores.
Word Soup offer three different modes: Relaxed – the game continues until the grid is empty or there are no more moves, Timed – you’re against the clock, and Brain Game – longer words will keep your grid filled.
Between games you can check your progress on global Game Center leaderboards and also a detailed in-game stats page.
You can also use Facebook to update friends on how well you’re doing.
Despite it offering a stern test I’ve found Word Soup to be a fun game and also an unexpectedly relaxing experience. As its name suggests, the relaxed mode (the main one I’ve stuck to) has a laid-back feel to it. The chilled soundtrack is soothing while the multicoloured grid of letters is very pleasant to the eye.
Word Soup is a bright, simple-to-play and addictive word game which has transferred very well to mobile devices.
At £1.49 and with no annoying in-app purchases, it’s well worth checking Word Soup out in your app store of choice.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
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