String ‘Em In

Poor old words. They’re the glue of civilisation, allowing us to communicate our thoughts and feelings and to pass on knowledge to our progeny. And yet hardly anyone wants to make a video game about them.

Instead that nerdy bunch - you know, The Numbers - takes all the plaudits, providing the basis for casino games and puzzlers alike. Where’s the love for the alphabet, people?

Here’s some over here. It’s called String ‘Em In, it’s been an absolute hit on interactive TV (apparently), and now it’s on your mobile. It’s rather good, too.

On the surface, this is one of the sparsest mobile games we’ve ever played, with a grand total of one modes split across five difficulty levels - although one of those is actually an ‘Endless’ option. Regardless, the nature of play remains the same throughout.

Faced with a 12x12 grid of random letters, it’s up to you to form as many words as you can within the time allowed. At its easiest you’re given 30 minutes, while ‘fiendish’ only gives you ten.

You can form words from any adjacent letters, so they can run backwards or double back on themselves in any direction - as long as the letters follow on in a continuous line. As you find words, they disappear and the letters above fall into place, Tetris style. As such, the game field is constantly shifting and no two grids play the same.

Each word you find is graded according to the number and difficulty of the letters (similar to the Scrabble scoring system), and you’ll also encounter the odd period where all words count for double, sparking a mad dash for ‘if’s and ‘bum’s.

You’re also told a ‘word of the day,’ which is worth double points if you can find it, and you’re allowed three letter swaps for when you can see almost-words like ‘perpendizular’ and would trade your soul for a ‘c.’

At the end of each round your score is totted up and placed on a high-score table for a sense of self-improvement.

Really, there’s little to fault String 'Em In on. It’s arguably more suited to prolonged lounging in front of the telly than it is to gaming on the go, and the rather spartan presentation isn’t going to get anyone’s pulse racing. But ultimately what we have here is a thoroughly enjoyable game about words, which is reason enough for celebration.