iOS (iPhone/iPad) User Reviews

Hey, another word game for iOS! Considering that there are almost as many word games in the App Store as there are words in the English language (including the warhorse called "Scrabble"), it's easy to think that there's no more room. You might be right. But, thankfully, there was enough room for PopWords!, a basic wordbuilding game from Megafauna Software. How good is PopWords!? Good enough to earn my third-ever 10. Let's look at why. First off, PW uses a very simple, minimalist interface. You're given a 5x6 grid of letters (that's 30 letters). Your job is to connect adjacent letters (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal or any combination ****'re not limited to straight-line combinations) into words of at least 3 letters. The longer the word, the more it's worth. Unlike irritating word-find games, though, you're not limited by a list of "find these" words. Better yet, the grid keeps changing; when you use a letter, it's removed from the board, the remaining letters slide down, and the short columns are refilled with more random letters. In the real game mode, you're fighting the timer, with longer words adding more time back into the constantly-running countdown timer. Ah, but in the "Practice" mode, there's no timer. It's the ultimate relaxation word game. You don't have to worry about being stuck with a rotten rail of tiles like solitaire Scrabble, because the grid is always changing. There are no timers, and your only limitation is your brain's dictionary and creativity. Best yet, this is a pick-up-put-down game. You can minimize it and come back later, even close the app and restart later, and your progress will still be there until you manually reset it. Some people complain about the lack of graphical finesse. Who cares? This game isn't meant to be eye-candy, it's supposed to be a word game. Truly, if they'd gone with flash-dazzle graphics, it would've taken something away (not to mention maybe knocking a point off this perfect 10). So I'm gladly giving one of those very rare 10s to PopWords! This, folks, is how word games are done.