WordKing Spelltris

Princes have always been expected to rescue fair maidens stuck in castles, and it goes without saying they'd give their lives for the love of the ladies. Dragons, ghosts, enemy kings… whoever or whatever it may be shall not stand in their way.

However, the encounters in WordKing Spelltris aren't quite as dramatic. The aim is to make up words – the longer the better – out of a grid containing nine letters, so that you can climb the hair of Rapunzel and save her.

No, really. What sounds like a ridiculous storyline, is in fact a great theme for a very addictive game, which can effectively be thought of as scrabble with a hint of Tetris.

As letters get used up their place is taken up by randomly generated replacements – you can always see the next three in line, waiting for their turn at the top of the screen. Their number is limited, as is time, however, with the idea being to make the longest possible combinations so as to help your prince get to his destination before you run out.

Should you get stuck with a useless grid, fear not – a bomb option blows your letters up so you can start afresh with a new selection, albeit at the cost of points.

Crucially, the database of words in WordKing Spelltris seems reassuringly comprehensive, and inputing them is as easy as your phone's directional controller will allow. The main skill, inevitably, comes from conjuring up words and doing this in the quickest time possible while keeping an eye on the number of letters and seconds left, as well as how much of Rapunzel's hair you've left to climb.

Like the experience itself, the presentation is fun. From the animated begging prince to Rapunzel's flirting and the dragon's smoking breath, the whole look and feel is straight out of Shrek, while the sound effects and medieval music elevate the atmosphere to a level you wouldn't usually associate with this type of game.

It's a genre WordKing Spelltris has much to contribute towards, and the inclusion of a compelling pass-and-play two-player option only strengthens its position as a contender to the word-game throne.