Thanks to Lightwood Games for the review code

Title: Word Puzzles by POWGI
System: Wii U/3DS (eShop)
Price: $9.99
Release date: 02/11/2016

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The main game/story

An assortment of over 400 puzzles, Cross-buy AND amiibo support?!? What sort of sorcery is this?

Graphics

Since the game is entirely made up of menus, being a game based off of simplistic word puzzles, that’s what will be focused on in this section.

The interface for both versions look decent at best, with the slight edge being given to the Wii U version due to more spacing between the modes on the Gamepad. In regards to choosing your category for each mode, both versions retain the simplicity of choosing the category and going with it. Outside of a bonus Streetpass feature on the 3DS version, there’s really not much difference between the two versions in general.

Music and Sound

The music sounds incredibly simple, usually with themes that like to loop frequently. The sound effects fit well, but really this is a game where turning off the sound wouldn’t make a difference on your mood.

Gameplay

Being a compilation of word puzzles, this game offers quite a few modes, with plenty of content in each of them. I’ll do my best to detail these modes, and mention the types of puzzles within the seven options available.

Word Maze: A rather interesting puzzle where you use the stylus to connect multiple words in a row, based off of subjects (such as pets). A very interesting way of doing a crossword puzzle, and I found this decently enjoyable.

Mixups: A challenging, yet manageable puzzle where you tap letters in a set order to form three different words, based on subjects like Shapes and Birds

One Word: A fill in the blank crossword where you must complete quotes from numerous famous people, such as Stephen King, Albert Einstein …and Adolf Hitler. (No, I’m not joking, he has his own category for some odd reason) If you know the person’s history well, it should be rather easy, but for those (like me) who’ve never heard of the majority of the people in this mode, it’s rather tricky unless you use the hints.

Flowers: The hardest puzzle of them all in my opinion. You must place pairs of letters on the petals in order to form words on all sides of the flower, with the center of the flower being two letters that can’t be moved or changed.

Circles: Similar to Mixups, but with circles and a mystery letter that you have to fill out on your own. Very challenging, but doable with patience and hints.

Crossovers: Incredibly easy crossword puzzles that lack a single letter. You actually can’t lose in this one, as tapping every letter until you get the right one will be all that’s needed. The hard part is using said letters to form a new word relating to the subject.

amiibo: Uses the name of any amiibo you have to generate a puzzle in the other six modes. Difficulty varies based on puzzle chosen and name of amiibo, essentially opening up a possibility for infinite levels. Unfortunately, you can use the same amiibo over and over to increase your solved puzzle count, which means you really don’t need more than one for this mode since you can rename the amiibo. Still an interesting addition to say the least.

And those seven modes, my friends are all that you do in Word Puzzles by Powgi! Outside of different results, the core gameplay remains the same for each category in the modes, meaning that there’s really only one other thing to talk about: The Hint system. On certain puzzles, you can hold L and R together to reveal a hint to help you out, whether it’s the first letter of the answer, or a word bank for you to use to solve a puzzle. This is very helpful, and actually makes the game accessible to folks like me who may not know who the heck some of the people from the One Word mode are.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Word Puzzles by POWGI is a fun little game with plenty of content to keep puzzle fans occupied. From a wide variety of modes to a boatload of content, Word Puzzles with Powgi would be a solid recommendation if it wasn’t for a few factors. For one thing, this game is $9.99, two dollars more than two prior games I reviewed from this company. Considering the amount of content in the game, this is still a fine price, but since you can get a good experience from their other games for a better value, it’s a bit harder to recommend, even with crossbuy essentially giving you a free copy of the opposite version. Another factor that may vary with you regards some of the content in the game. As noted above, some rather controversial people are included in the One Word game. While there’s nothing vulgar or extreme in the quotes chosen for this minigame, it’s understandable to assume some folks might be incredibly sensitive to this material, whether it’s because of political views or something along those lines. I give Word Puzzles by POWGI a 5 out of 10, and I only recommend it for those who don’t mind the slightly higher price, along with the possibly sensitive material regarding some of the subjects. If the game ends up going on sale in the future, however, then I think it’s a fair game that you can enjoy to kill some time waiting for a doctor’s appointment or a long car trip. Your mileage will definitely vary on this one, depending on your interest in puzzle games like these and your tolerance towards potentially sensitive material.