Smartbox Design Word Monaco

Game Review: Smartbox Design Word Monaco



Smartbox Design is a small software house producing some interesting games for Pocket PC's. We have previously reviewed their dice game, Farkle, which impressed us with its innovation and gameplay.






They have now offered us the opportunity to review Word Monaco, a game which uses letters of the alphabet to complete columns of words, in the same way as traditional playing card Solitaire.







Read on to see our opinion of this game!







Supplier: SmartBox Design
Product: Word Monaco
Cost: $14.95 from 4WM Game Store

Thanks to Todd Sherman of Smartbox for the review sample
Installation

Word Monaco is supplied as a zip file download of around 2MB. It installs from the PC via Activesync. There is no local cab file installation option. The installed size of the game is 3.1MB and it can be installed to main memory or a storage card.

The file contains its own dictionary which includes anglicised words for UK users.

The installer places a Word Monaco shortcut in the Programs/Games folder.



Starting the Game

As its title suggests, Word Monaco is a word game, with gameplay akin to traditional solitaire games, but instead of constructing sequences of playing cards, you move letters around to make words. The older readers among you may remember a very similar 'real card' game called Lexicon, which I remember enjoying as a child!



There are some ground rules! You can move any letter, or group of letters, to an empty header row, or on top of existing cards. When moving onto an existing card, the whole sequence must be a recognised word, or go towards making a recognised word. So, you could move an 'R' on top of an existing 'T', as that could go towards a number of legitimate words, but you would be unable to move another 'T', or an 'X' etc, as they would not be a valid word sequence.



Word Monaco is a very easy game to start playing. The starting screen has 3 hotspots which can be tapped by the stylus for Play, Setup and Help. There are also menu items for Game and Help, plus an icon for switching between the home menu and the playing board, and an icon to turn sounds on or off.



As befits a game of this type, sounds are fairly basic. There is a 'French Accordian' style introduction tune on opening the game, and various sound effects when selecting or dragging cards, but these soon become a distraction, and I soon tapped the Mute icon!



Game Types


There are 3 modes of play, with subtle differences distinguishing each.

Lanvotto Beach: Simply use all the cards to make words.

Royalty Cafe: Words must be at least three letters, and there are three special cards, which must be used either in each of three words, or all three in one word.

Train Station: As in Royalty Cafe, but words must be four letters minimum, and there are four special cards.

Each game type can be played at Easy, Medium or Hard levels, the level of the game determining the set of letters available when a game is commenced. There is an option in the setup screen to allow tapping of a face down card to show its letter.









Playing the Game

For a quick first play, it is sufficient simply to tap the Play hotspot on the opening screen. This will open the playing board using the easiest level. This is indeed pretty easy, accepting two-letter words, and having two jokers available which can represent any letter. Legitimate words are marked with a small coloured diamond above the column.

The initial playing board is exactly the same as a card solitaire game, with seven columns of cards, with an increasing number of rows as you move to the right. The bottom card of each column is face up. Using the stylus, simply drag a card onto another one, or to an empty column header. As I mentioned above, letters can only be dragged onto others if they make, or could go to make a legitimate word. The game is complete when all the letters are used in complete, legitimate words.

At its easiest level, Word Monaco accepts two letter words. Some of these are a little puzzling as they don't appear to me to be 'legitimate' English words, though as the game is American in origin, they could be valid US words. For longer words, the dictionary does appear to be able to recognise anglicised versions (colour, favour etc) which is good. Proper names are not allowed, nor are acronyms or hyphenated words. I did encounter a few instances where a word I had in mind was rejected, but I suppose a 3MB dictionary is going to have some omissions!

Once comfortable with the basic Lanvotto Beach playing board, you can either progress to a harder level, or move to one of the other two playing boards. Even the medium level of Royalty Cafe can be quite challenging, though as with all solitaire games, there is a fair amount of luck in the run of the cards.




Help and Features




For novice players, Word Monaco eases you into its mode of play with helpful pop-up screens giving advice and playing hints. Once you are adept at the strategies, you can turn these tips off from the Game/Preferences screen.

At any point in the game, you can tap Game/View Deck to see a list of letters already visible, and those currently face down.


To the left of the playing screen is a set of icons for Abort game, Help, Undo and Redo last move.




Completing the Game



Once all the cards have been used, you are presented with a 'Completion' screen listing your words. These are retained, and can be viewed via the Game/Best Words menu; this screen includes a 'Clear' option to empty the word list.
There is also a Game/Statistics menu item which shows your ongoing performance with a choice showing each of the three game types, or an amalgamated score. These statistics can be reset if required.


Summary

Pro's

Easy Installation
Quick to learn
Good help and playing hints
Remains challenging
Current game automatically saved on exit


Con's

Easiest level is too easy
Dictionary could be more comprehensive
No Cab file installation option




4WM Rating 95%




Conclusion

Word Monaco is an easy game to pick up and play, and can be played at a number of levels depending on your mood, and the time available. Rest assured, that if you are in the middle of a good game, and have to stop unexpectedly, your current position is saved for when you next start the program.

The variety of game boards available means that you can expect the game to keep you entertained for a long time.

Word Monaco is something of an oddity in its concept and presentation, and may not appeal to those gamers who like number puzzle games. At $14.95 it is at the top of its price band but, in my opinion, still represents fair value for money.

If you enjoy this Pocket PC game, SmartBox Design also offer a more sophisticated Windows PC version for $19.99.