Playing Mario Teaches Typing and Typing of the Dead for the first time were magical experiences for me growing up. I had no real interest in word games outside of the occasional Word Munchers binge, but those two titles took my love for the genre to a whole new level. It wasn’t because of typing classes or outside practice that I worked my way up to over 80 words-per-minute in High School, it was due to videogames, and I owe them a great deal. Words for Evil ($1.99) is a very similar game that attempts to marry typing gameplay with RPG-like elements, with mixed results.
The idea is that it takes the basic fantasy adventure scheme and turns it on its head by forcing you to spell to defeat creatures, get treasure, and gain levels. You’ll do said spelling by way of a seven by five grid filled with letters, which let you spell anything as long as you choose adjacent tiles. Depending on who you have in your party (hence the RPG conceit), colored tiles will appear on the board — chaining them means that multiple characters can strike. The gist is that you’re going to want to spell shorter words constantly so that you keep hitting your foes with a consistent barrage of attacks.
Combat uses the tried and true “real-time" system — so if you’re just sitting there like a deer in the headlights not spelling anything, you’re going to constantly get attacked. I like this choice a lot, as it forces you to constantly look for words even as you’re in the process of spelling something out, and adds a lot of tension to battles.
Extra bits like traps add some variety to Words for Evil, forcing you to use every single letter available lest you take damage from the remnants. There are also mini-games for returning to life on the brink of death and opening chests, which are a lot of fun. Equipment mechanics are also in, and even though they aren’t particularly deep, are appreciated.
The main problem with the game though is that these extras don’t happen enough, and the combat can be a bit of a slog after you’ve done it a few times. You’ll pick things up very quickly, and realize that all you have to do is constantly spell easy words to kill pretty much every enemy in the game. Nearly every battle feels the same, and after playing for a few hours, the entire experience started to blend together.
Oddly enough even after you’ve completed the “story," (of which there is none, basically), you’ll continue on in an endless cycle again and again until you put the game down — if you haven’t already. There’s no…ramping feel of difficulty in Words for Evil. Everything is far too easy and there’s no sense of accomplishment using the same strategy over and over with only the occasional loss.
Visually Words for Evil looks a lot like the famous Sword & Sworcery, but with a lot less style and with more washed out backgrounds and colors. Going along with the samey combat, the backgrounds look samey as well. It’s hard to really get on board with the game’s art even if you’re a fan of retro titles, which will no doubt be an immediate barrier of entry for some. The really good news is that there’s no IAP of any kind. Once you buy the game, that’s it — your journey can progress unimpeded from start to finish.
Words for Evil can certainly use a lot more work on its basic mechanics, but you could do a whole lot worse when it comes to word games. If you happen to be eying this one, just make sure you’ve exhausted Bookworm to the highest degree.
