In a mix of what you’d call Wheel of Fortune and Boggle, Guess the Phrase ($1.99) combines two different games together for a fun word challenge.
In Guess the Phrase, the object of the game is to use the words in the “Boggle” game board (lower half of the screen) to complete the phrase on the upper half of the screen. But it’s not as easy as picking out letters. Only the first letter of the word (and yes, it must be a real word) chosen on the bottom half of the screen is eligible for the first half of the screen. Therefore, you’ll be looking for words like “and,” “eye,” “inn,” or “out” for those vowels and then work your way into finding words with the remaining letters (which, like you’ll see in the screenshot, is rather difficult when your vowels and decent letters disappear).
I’m a big fan of word games, but I’m not sure I had much freedom here, especially with a game board that is so limiting (and this happened often). My recourse? To guess the phrase. So here I am, trying to figure out what I could do with that long word (“It’s fun to be in the same ____ with you”). I’m limited with what I have, and what I have may not necessarily help me get the answer I want.
The only other concern I had was more of an aesthetic issue. In comparison to other games on the iPod touch or iPhone, this one isn’t one of the better-looking games. I think this game has more potential with a graphics overhaul; there’s something to be said when you find yourself looking at a picture of trees in a forest while you play. It doesn’t do it for me. The letters up top are very small and I can see this game potentially losing brownie points for forgetting the older crowd of users who may not have the best eyesight.
The game had sound effects, and the music was rather nice, so it gets bonus points for that. But there’s room for improvement here. Wordaholics who want a two-tiered approach toward word games should find this enjoyable.
