Bookworm Adventures 2 is a puzzle game from casual game makers Popcap. It combines the simplicity of Scrabble with interesting RPG elements to make for an incredibly addicting game. At first glance, the game seems to be targeted for a completely different audience, which is why I have yet to play the first one. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a strangely addictive puzzle games that challenges and builds your vocabulary.

The game starts out with the titular Bookworm, Lex, traveling into a book to save Mother Goose. The first level contains Fractured Fairytales, ranging from Hansel and Gretel to Jack and the Beanstalk. You proceed along a linear path, fighting battle after battle by combining letters from a 4×4 board into words. The longer the word, the more damage you do. Get a long enough word, and you spawn a special Gem tile that grants you bonus effects, such as Poison, Extra Damage, and even Healing effects when they are used in a word. Enemies attack you using simple damage attacks, along with status effects that lock out or randomize certain tiles. These effects get more and more prevalent as you continue, demanding the use of special items to heal or defend against them.

Along the way, you gain items that give you bonus effects. You can equip 3 items with you for any level, until you get your first Support Character, at which point you can only have 2. One of the first items you receive is a dictionary that increases the damage of Adjectives. These equip items add variety to the battles and cause you to think strategically. Do you want to blow a bonus word early on a small enemy, or save it up for the big boss at the end of the level? If you chose the latter, you are forced to spell smaller words. This makes each battle go slower, but it may be worth it to unload an 8-letter adjective on the boss.

You also gain the help of multiple support characters. After obtaining your first (Mother Goose), you can choose 2 items and 1 support character to equip yourself with before each level. Mother Goose has the ability to create a free health potion every 4 turns, while the Cheshire Cat cures Lex of negative status effects. Both are abilities that comes in handy.

Every so often during the main game, you get the chance to participate in one of a few different wordplay minigames. These usually consist of spelling words as fast as you can. In one game, you race an AI up a hill, and another has you spelling words to turn letters from silver to gold. Each of these minigames gives you helpful items that are always useful. However, I usually find myself hoarding my Attack Up potions. It’s the OCD in me.

There are 3 chapters: Fractured Fairytales, The Monkey Kind, and Astounding Planet, each with their own items and support characters. Once you beat the first chapter, you get access to the Tome of Knowledge. This book gives you random info on the multiple characters you have encountered in your travels. There is so much witty writing hidden all through out this game. Each battle has a humorous little blurb beneath the enemy, and the load screen has some funny lines that flash across. All of this stuff is completely non-essential to the gameplay itself, but it adds charm.

Once you beat the game, you can start gathering achievements and playing the various minigames at will. There is enough here to keep you playing for another millenia, as the randomness of the gameplay keeps things fresh. It’s always fun to challenge yourself to create longer and more obscure words, just to see how you can break their dictionary. Of course, there are many words that are censored, and the dictionary apparently doesn’t include much slang. This causes some build ups to be worthless when you discover that your word isn’t included.

Bottom Line:
Most gamers will look at Bookworm Adventures 2 and think, “This game isn’t for me.” That’s exactly how I felt when I first saw it. But given the chance, you can find an amusing game that is worthy to the Popcap name. Beware, hours will be wasted.

Score: 8/10

• Pros:
  • Awesome replayability
  • Easy to learn, difficult to master gameplay
  • Charming graphics and audio
• Cons:
  • Charming graphics can initially turn off some gamers
  • Minigames not very accessible until later in the game
  • Quite easy, when all is said and done
• Random Fact:
  • You are bound to create some strange, unknown words by accident. Have a dictionary handy! This could be a *gasp* learning experience!

Bookworm Adventures 2 was developed by Popcap Games and was released on July 30th, 2009