''WordZap'' is a

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, Sequence, sequence solving, Spatial ability, spatial recognition, ...

Francis Crick Francis Harry Compton Crick (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004) was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the Nucleic acid doub ...

. In 1991, it was included with Volume 3 of the ''

Microsoft Entertainment Pack ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack'', also known as ''Windows Entertainment Pack'' or simply ''WEP'', is a collection of 16-bit casual computer games for Windows. There were four Entertainment Packs released between 1990 and 1992. These games wer ...

'' and was later released by

Jaleco was a corporate brand name that was used by two previously connected video game developers and publishers based in Japan. The original Jaleco company was founded in 1974 as Japan Leisure Company, founded by Yoshiaki Kanazawa, before being renamed ...

for the

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

in 1992. An updated version for newer editions of

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is available on the game's official website as

shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer. ...

. The game has been compared with ''

Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...

'' and ''

Boggle ''Boggle'' is a word game introduced in 1972 and in which players try to find as many words as they can from a grid of lettered dice, within a set time limit. It was invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers. Rules ...

''; in ''WordZap'', players race to make proper

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

words to fill their rack of words, but when one player makes a word already found by the other player, the word is "zapped" from both players' racks. Each round ends when either one player fills the word rack, or time runs out without either player being able to make another word.

Gameplay

In the Game Boy version, players can choose between 3-, 4-, or 5-letter words. They can also enable or disable hints, allow or disallow plural forms of words and even choose the level of

vocabulary A vocabulary (also known as a lexicon) is a set of words, typically the set in a language or the set known to an individual. The word ''vocabulary'' originated from the Latin , meaning "a word, name". It forms an essential component of languag ...

used in the game. Each round has a different theme attached to it (e.g., "Any Letter"). Players have a limited time to solve each round before it ends. They also have a choice between the conventional "WordZap" mode and the "WordHai" mode, which permits players to create 3-letter words from a set of 21 tiles. Removing a tile from the screen requires using it; opening up options for building new words. There is a built-in dictionary using a complete list of ten thousand English-language words. Two players can compete against other using a Game Link. Only the "WordZap" mode is available for two-player play. All types of skill levels are accommodated in this game from novice players to experts.

Development

The game was originally picked up by

Meldac is a Japanese music industry, music and computer and video game, video game company. It was founded in July 1985 by Hiromu Takamizawa, Tohru Sasaki, Tetsu Kiso, and Hajime Toyama — all members of the now-defunct vocal group — with financia ...

as ''WordHai'' at the 1991 Summer Consumer Electronics Show, but Meldac of America went into bankruptcy before the game ever went into release, and it was picked up by

where it was released as ''WordZap''.

Reception

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'' wrote: "WordZap is guaranteed to satisfy the bored traveler, or wannabe vocabulary whizz."

References

External links

*{{official website, http://wordzap.com/ 1991 video games Game Boy games Jaleco games Multiplayer and single-player video games Realtime Associates games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Word games