Game Info
GAME NAME: uWordsmith
DEVELOPER(S): CHUDCHUD Industries
PUBLISHER(S): CHUDCHUD Industries
PLATFORM(S): Nintendo Wii U
GENRE(S): Puzzle
RELEASE DATE(S): January 15th, 2015
Puzzle games come in all different types whether it be with blocks, is the form of math or even hide and seek type games. CHUDCHUD Industries has brought one type that we haven’t seen much on a console in a word puzzle game. I was a huge fan of Word Whomp back in the day, so I was naturally excited to give uWordsmith a try.
The gameplay of uWordsmith is simple but works well especially with the Wii U GamePad. On the television screen an image will pop up and then you will have to look down at the GamePad and by using the touchscreen, slide the letter tiles down to the bottom of the screen to spell a word that describes the image. It is a really great concept but to me would have worked a lot better if you could have just tapped the letters in the order you would like instead of dragging. Having to look at the television screen and then down at the GamePad takes away a second and then you lose precious seconds by having to slide the tiles. It just feels like it would have been more natural to tap.
uWordsmith doesn’t disappoint in the terms of modes. There are 3 modes that come standard once you download the tiles. In Arcade mode you are just playing for the highest possible score. There are three different difficulties in each game mode but all this does is control the time and how fast it depletes. Challenge mode was too me what felt like the best to play. you get to choose a category and then try to complete it within the time limit to earn stars. These stars unlock Mosaic mode which only shows you select tiles of the image and then you still must guess what it is.
The final mode is multiplayer. In the multiplayer mode, you can either play Arcade or Mosaic. It’s similar to the single player and you and whomever you are playing against have to take turns swapping the GamePad. It works well but I still preferred to play the single player challenge mode over either multiplayer mode.
The images that are displayed on the television screen look very sharp and crisp and the letter tiles on the GamePad look like what you’d expect. Other then that their isn’t much to the graphics of the title. The sound track is okay but isn’t anything memorable that you will have stuck in your head later on.
The Recommendation
If you like word puzzle games this game will definitely scratch that itch. There are plenty of puzzles and I had to play for a while before they started recycling. This game would be a perfect candidate for DLC. While I had a few complaints about how the touchscreen was utilized they don’t totally break the title but I still feel that uWordsmith is a title that may only appeal to puzzle gamers or fans of couch competitions.
