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Word Duelist

Word Duelist is a collection of different word mini-games all wrapped in a nicely put together package.

The game sees you become a student at Morphemial University where you can visit the different academic departments and chat to the faculty and students there present. You will be taught various short word games by the people you talk to, and you can challenge any one of them to a word battle.
Battles are fought over several rounds, each featuring a word game, and are won by the first person to attain three points. There are 17 word games to learn and master, and feature all sorts of types such as: palindromes, alphabetical sorting, hangman, longest word, and so on.
Some of the characters you meet will have specific requests that have to be met before they will accept a challenge, which generally consist of talking to or beating another character in a challenge.

The word games themselves feature a simple but effective control system. There will normally be 9 or less letters shown on your side of the screen, arranged in a 3 by 3 grid, and you highlight the letter you want by moving the left thumbstick in the appropriate direction. So, should you want the letter in the top left corner, you hold the thumbstick in that direction and hit A to select it. You can press B to cancel any selection and press X to submit a word.
Once you've become accustomed to the controls they become quick and intuitive, which is important considering you'll need to work faster than your opponent.

The visuals in Word Duelist are simple and colourful, with a cartoonish look to them. The characters you meet in game generally have some amusing things to say, which helps liven the game up and prevents things from getting too dry.
Even though Word Duelist is essentially a compilation of short word games, the story and characters keep things interesting without getting in the way of the gampeplay. The word games themselves are quick and fun, with a smooth difficulty curve that eases new players in and eventually becomes a good challenge without ever turning frustrating.
If you like word games I'd thoroughly recommend giving this game a try.



Get Word Duelist on XBox 360