By Emma Rees
Developed by Atif Bashir
WordApt is a free to play word game for Android that is designed to teach players new
words, encourage deep thinking and claims to be suitable for players where English isn’t
their first language.
The game starts in no time at all as there are no developer logos or a start menu of any kind. The first thing that will grab your attention is a large word in capital letters at the top of the screen. The centre of the screen has rows of blank squares where letters will go to form a word. How many blank squares there are determines how long a word is and there is a simple keyboard to type on at the bottom. There’s nothing too fancy, just a simple, clean interface.
You will instantly notice that there are no instructions and no visible hints to give you the missing words, and you could be forgiven for automatically thinking that the word provided at the top of the screen is directly associated with the words that fit into the rows. It isn’t. The words are supposed to be worked out by the phonics that are in the given word. For example, if the given word was ‘Cloud’, you would try out words that sounded the same but were not spelt the same. It is a unique and interesting rule, but without reading the instructions which are on Wordapt’s download page, is highly unlikely that anyone would work it out.
Whether you know limited English or are a veteran, Wordapt will definitely teach you some new words. It really makes you think and it feels fantastic when you guess words correctly, although some of the words can be quite obscure; ‘Nee’, for example, and ‘Nae’. Nae is Scottish so could completely stump people unfamiliar with Scottish dialect. And how many people will have heard of ‘Speiss’, ‘Sioux’ or ‘Hie?’ You can choose to use a hint which will give you a word definition but these hints will eventually run out. Once the hints run out, you must either pay for more, pay for an unlimited supply or watch a video to gain a free one. If you can’t guess a word, there is also a ‘reveal’ button which unveils one of the words.
Image not recovered: WordApt. Archived image reference
Frustratingly, once a word has been revealed, there is no way to get a definition for it without looking it up online. Just like with hints, if ‘reveals’ run out, you can buy more, pay for an unlimited supply or watch a video to get one for free. Fifty percent of the money gets donated to the Yorkshire Cancer Research charity, who help towards the discovery of treatments for a wide range of cancers. The name of the charity is
not revealed in the store, it simply states that the money will be going to ‘a charity
researching into a cure for cancer’.
Strangely, there is no way to revisit or restart levels. Wordapt automatically saves which
level and word you get to and that’s exactly where you start off from whenever the game is next loaded. Unfortunately you can’t touch a word to be reminded of its definition, which would have been helpful to non English speakers or players wanting to expand their vocabulary. There is, however, an option to share your screen to Facebook if you want to ask for word suggestions from other people.
Another thing that Wordapt lacks is music, although it’s unlikely to bother most word game fans. There’s a small handful of pleasant sound effects for guessing words, choosing hints and completing a level.
Overall, Wordapt has a unique premise focusing on phonics for guessing words, but some levels contain several obscure words that the average player wouldn’t guess, even with a definition. It’s also a shame that definitions don’t get shown and can’t be recalled once a word is revealed. Wordapt is free to play but more ‘hints’ and word ‘reveals’ can be purchased using the in-game store. Fifty percent of the money earned through purchases goes to the Yorkshire Cancer Research charity. However, use of the store is optional, since hints and reveals can be earned by watching videos.
Wordapt is a fresh idea in the plethora of word games already available on the app store and despite being basic and lacking in some features, gets the cogs in your brain turning.
The Good
+Simple clean interface
+Fresh, unique premise using phonics to guess the words.
+Half of the money spent in the store supports charity.
+Feels great to work the words out by using sounds
The Not so Good
-Rare/obscure words; some levels have more than others
-No ability to recall definitions or get definitions for revealed words
-Lacking features such as level restart/level select
-Instructions are not in game
Score 6/10
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