Game Reviews

Sqwords

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iOS
| Sqwords
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Sqwords
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iOS
| Sqwords

Sqwords. It's almost as much fun to play as it is to pronounce. Sqwords is essentially a crossword puzzle with a dash of sudoku: you complete words on a grid by filling in missing letters, the caveat being that the words must make sense both vertically and horizontally.

The game's simplicity and addictiveness will please word game fans, though having hints locked behind a paywall is sure to irritate some.

You begin each round with a grid that has pre-set letters in addition to a varying number of loose letters. Your job is to place the loose letters in an order that fills the grid with words that make sense both vertically and horizontally.

It's easy enough when your grid is a mere 3x3 letters and you're spelling out the likes of "cat" and "rat," but the challenge ramps up quickly when you unlock larger grids. Before long, you'll be chewing your lip and wondering why the heck "dldf" can't be a word.

Cross words

Sqwords is incredibly simple to pick up, though its two-page tutorial doesn't explain why some of your letter tiles change colours when they hit the grid. That said, when the screen flashes red and your loose letter tiles float away from the grid like bus passengers from an offending smell, it's not hard to guess that something's gone wrong.

There's a free version of Sqwords in addition to a paid version. The free version offers quite a bit of content, though only the paid version allows you to gain access to the highest difficulty levels (including 5x5 grids) and hints.

The paid version doles out 15 hints, and each one will fill in a letter when you're stuck. After that, you need to cough up hard currency for more hint packs.

Both the free and paid versions of Sqwords are worthwhile downloads if you want an engaging word game experience that's engineered for single players. The presentation is simple and the locked-up hint system is irritating, but you will at least enjoy venting your frustration on the grid.

Sqwords

Sqwords is an addictive word game that anyone can play, though the presence of in-app purchases might cheese some players off
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