Hello friends! Our brain teaser Under a Spell is finally on the AppStore! Under a Spell Happymagenta UAB Step into the word magic with fun educational brain teaser Under a Spell. Solve a vast range of unique and challenging … Free Buy Now Watch Media DetailsStep into the word magic with fun educational brain teaser Under a Spell. Solve a vast range of unique and challenging handcrafted levels backed by the help of Artificial Intelligence that learned from zillions of words from books, movies, articles humanity ever created through all its history. FEATURES ● Find hidden words in a mixture of letters ● Improve your vocabulary and spelling skills ● 2000 levels × 11 languages ● The more languages you play, the higher score you get ● Unique daily puzzles with progressive rewards ● Get the highest score and conquer the leaderboard ● Connect to Facebook and compete with your friends Subscription options 1. Weekly Diamond Membership offers 3,99$ weekly subscription after 3-day free trial. The subscription will provide 15 hints every day; daily Wheel of Fortune Spins x2 and 50% more hints for all in-app purchases. 2. Monthly VIP Membership offers 9,99$ monthly subscription. The subscription will provide 15 hints every day; daily Wheel of Fortune Spins x2 and 50% more hints for all in-app purchases. 3. Yearly VIP Membership offers 49,99$ yearly subscription. The subscription will provide 15 hints every day; daily Wheel of Fortune Spins x2 and 50% more hints for all in-app purchases. End of trial and subscription renewal This price is for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. The account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Canceling trial or subscription You can turn off the auto-renew for the subscription whenever you want to through iTunes account. Check https://support.apple.com/HT202039. When your current trial/subscription period expires, you will be unsubscribed. The current active subscription period cannot be canceled. After your subscription expires, you will no longer be able to use elements offered in your chosen Subscription Option. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at [email protected] Privacy Policy: https://happymagenta.com/tmp/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://happymagenta.com/tmp/terms.html Information Seller:Happymagenta UAB Genre:Puzzle, Word Release:Apr 05, 2017 Updated:Jul 11, 2024 Version:1.8.1 Size:256.4 MB TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating: (2) Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel The success of our past releases has given us what we always wanted a possibility to work longer on several more serious projects with much more content than a small indie team could physically put into a game by working on it in for just a couple of months. For the last couple of years, Artificial Intelligence has been giving us great help with solving different tasks in our other projects. In our non-game projects A.I. mostly solves tasks that are beyond complex. Usually ones that in a normal way are impossible to be solved or done during a lifetime. Regardless if its a lifetime of a man or a star. Some tasks we use the A.I. for require billions of years of computation time on the fastest hardware now available, but the A.I. solves them in a much shorter time on much less powerful hardware. It was inevitable, that someday we start using A.I. in our games. We always wanted to make a new word puzzle game. However, to make it a very good enjoyable game, beyond our common touch of polish and attention to details, we would need a much deeper knowledge of each of the languages we would like our word game to support. Thats why we decided to use our experience with A.I. as a helping hand. We started with feeding our A.I. with as much texts as possible books, encyclopedias, movie scripts, articles. A.I. has learned from terabytes of data and countless billions of words. After that our A.I. has become an expert in several major languages and become a great help to making our new game a better game. So, what exactly A.I. does in Under a Spell? It does primarily two things. First, it helps to pull right words over almost two thousand thoroughly tested handcrafted levels. Not just in English, but also in other languages. On launch, we start with support for English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Belarusian. Adding more languages later. Second, it helps to dynamically control the difficulty of levels. With this approach, beyond some new and currently unique gameplay elements that Under a Spell brings into the word game genre, each player is guaranteed to get a unique game experience that is crafted especially for him. Best of luck to you all in enjoying our new game P.S. Please share your thoughts and impressions about the game in the comments! fiskadoro Well-Known Member Jan 1, 2009 326 17 18 Chicago, IL #2 fiskadoro, Apr 5, 2017 In the interests of full disclosure, I got a promo code for this one yesterday so I've had a few hours to play. Up to level 7 so far and it's enjoyable and very nicely presented. As the puzzles get harder, you are encouraged to look ahead and think about what letters/words you need to form before you get to the next clue. I think my only issue is that there have been occasions on some puzzles where it feels like I'm just guessing multiple words in a grid until I finally find the one the AI needs me to find to move onto the next clue, and that can get a bit frustrating (and I suppose that's why you need hints -- not so much to solve the clues, but more to push you along). Anyway, good so far and I'll keep on playing! ColeDaddy Silver Supporter<br>Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze Mar 20, 2010 4,232 131 63 Male Sojourner Washington D.C. #3 ColeDaddy, Apr 5, 2017 Nice looking game, I deleted it when it would not accept "wolf" or "fowl" but only accepted "flow". Happybyte Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Mar 1, 2011 605 0 0 #4 Happybyte, Apr 5, 2017 Last edited: Apr 5, 2017 There would be much less of a challenge and not so much of a puzzle if it would accept simply any word the letters can be used to build So, eventually, it would become boring to always win. Other than that, when you finally guess exactly the "hard" word that is hidden it should give you more dopamine/pleasure. It was the original idea, although, as you all know, we are always listening to users and a open to suggestions. How do you guys think we should improve/handle it? P.S. A planned update will give bonuses when you find a correct word, but not the one that is hidden. AppUnwrapper Well-Known Member Oct 26, 2011 4,062 3 0 http://www.appunwrapper.com/escape-games/ #5 AppUnwrapper, Apr 5, 2017 I got a little further because I was curious, but agreed. Deleting. It's not a game to guess what the AI is thinking without any context. Either add *actual* hints/clues that give context as to the word you're looking for or just accept any words the player comes up with. Otherwise, it's not really a game. DayDreamer1 Well-Known Member Jan 19, 2015 63 5 8 #6 DayDreamer1, Apr 5, 2017 In most games of this type your challenge is to find a specific word that is hidden, not just any word. Thats the point of the game - to make you think looking for more possible alternatives. AI helped us to collect words from different sources and range them according to the frequency of occurrence. So in the beginning youll find relatively easy and short words (3-4 letters mostly), thus a great variety of possible variants. While youre getting further, the difficulty of the words increases so as the word length (up to 7 letters). But the number of alternatives decreases accordingly. anthony78 Well-Known Member Nov 13, 2015 3,125 703 113 #7 anthony78, Apr 5, 2017 Last edited: Apr 5, 2017 But without any clues or context, it literally becomes just a guessing game of a combination of letters. This is also something that bothered me with Typeshift. Commendable for using advanced AI in your effort. But I don't know. A wild letter goose chase just doesn't sound fun to me . Most word games either give you points for any words you create for the letters given. Or, like a crossword puzzle, give you a clue to come up with an exact word. DayDreamer1 Well-Known Member Jan 19, 2015 63 5 8 #8 DayDreamer1, Apr 5, 2017 You're right, we're considering giving bonuses if you find existing words, just not the ones that are hidden. The comments here convince us that it would be the right thing for the next update. fiskadoro Well-Known Member Jan 1, 2009 326 17 18 Chicago, IL #9 fiskadoro, Apr 5, 2017 I can see why this could infuriate people, though I'm still sticking with it for now. At some points it's more about guessing the right letters rather than testing your vocabulary or word-building skills (as also mentioned above, this is probably TypeShift's biggest failure). E.g. there are times when I think to myself, it wouldn't matter if these were letters or not, because it's more of a puzzle game than a word game. This is NOT necessarily a bad thing at all, it's just different and worth thinking about. AppUnwrapper Well-Known Member Oct 26, 2011 4,062 3 0 http://www.appunwrapper.com/escape-games/ #10 AppUnwrapper, Apr 5, 2017 Kind of weird seeing everyone compare this to Typeshift, because Typeshift doesn't force you to find the words the developer thought of. You just need to use up all the letters to make any words. Except for the clue levels, of course, which make sense the way they are. vectorarchitekt Well-Known Member Dec 29, 2013 2,489 177 63 #11 vectorarchitekt, Apr 5, 2017 I do think that maybe it should be where you get all the points for making the hidden word, but the game will still accept any valid word you make with those letters, for a lower score. This way, if you're a perfectionist you can try again, but f you just want to make words you can. For me, part of the fun of any word game is exercising my vocabulary. anthony78 Well-Known Member Nov 13, 2015 3,125 703 113 #12 anthony78, Apr 5, 2017 Well, you're right that you aren't necessarily forced to use a specific word in Typeshift. But, as even Shaun Musgrave pointed out in his review, it also has a feeling that you're just trying different combinations of letters until you find the right one. With some obscure words, it does often force a specific word. The hint levels made more sense. It's not the same as other games where you have tons of letters to find words and score points. That's just my take, which made the game disappointing, and I know others that felt that way. ---- Anyway, good to hear the dev on this game is taking our concerns into consideration. ColeDaddy Silver Supporter<br>Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze Mar 20, 2010 4,232 131 63 Male Sojourner Washington D.C. #13 ColeDaddy, Apr 5, 2017 Agreed and very good suggestion re: adding context. Hope the dev sees this and considers it for the next build. AppUnwrapper Well-Known Member Oct 26, 2011 4,062 3 0 http://www.appunwrapper.com/escape-games/ #14 AppUnwrapper, Apr 5, 2017 Someone deleted my comment and left the viagra spam? Edit: Oops, not deleted. Just there's more viagra spam. Happybyte Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Mar 1, 2011 605 0 0 #15 Happybyte, Apr 5, 2017 Last edited: Apr 5, 2017 My own gameplay impressions tell me that it's exactly what Typeshift does - you need to guess/build words the developer thought of (although not in a specific order). Under a Spell gives some clues too. If you swipe through the hidden words at the top. You can see than some words have colored letters that are basically the clues. Once you look a bit upfront you find the word the that uses colored letters. After that it's much easier to guess the precceding words. That helps a lot as letters mostly aren't reused. Differs from level to level, of course, but for me it's more or less easy, and I play English, although English isn't my mother tongue. sebgo Well-Known Member Dec 26, 2010 830 396 63 Male 95% leisure. Somewhere in a town amidst the Amazon jungle. http://www.google.com #16 sebgo, Apr 5, 2017 Chalk N Talk. I like word games, but I rather have Chalk n Talk back online than trying new formulas. Besides... Timers. Happybyte Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Mar 1, 2011 605 0 0 #17 Happybyte, Apr 5, 2017 That's already planned. same for me. Happybyte Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Mar 1, 2011 605 0 0 #18 Happybyte, Apr 5, 2017 That's where my thought are going at this moment. Accepting any word would make it yet another BookWorm, that is more like a match 3 than a puzzle. But getting people less furious is a valid point, for what some gameplay perks are already planned. AppUnwrapper Well-Known Member Oct 26, 2011 4,062 3 0 http://www.appunwrapper.com/escape-games/ #19 AppUnwrapper, Apr 5, 2017 Sorry, not gonna argue with the developer. I gave some feedback and do with it as you will. You can insist it's like Typeshift if you want, but you're not going to convince me of it. Happybyte Well-Known Member Patreon Silver Mar 1, 2011 605 0 0 #20 Happybyte, Apr 5, 2017 Last edited: Apr 5, 2017 I can say that I see all mentioned above points very clearly and our team not only appreciates a feedback, but also takes it into account when it comes to updates My posts were not directed to convince anyone to change their mind. I was just trying to explain why its like that in the current gameplay. I'm listening everyone in this thread with the most attention. Although, I'm not the only developer of the game - there is a whole team behind it. Though the question remains - what would be better to improve the game in a scope of a word game. I'm trying to imagine options and to look though all of them. Currently it's clear that some people don't accept the challenge and want simpler gameplay. Why it happens is more or less obvious. Most people probably are just skipping though the tutorial and it may take time for them to get used to the current gameplay when the game expects a specific word of all possible combinations the available letters provide. In the middle of it they mat get furious and rage quit. Yet, according to many recent scientific studies it's a natural process. Brain activity does consume a lot of energy when it is not about survival. When a person is about to solve a challenging puzzle the brain tries to prevent energy loss and a person subconsciousnessly may decide not to go with an energy consumig task, as a thought becomes formed in the brain dozens milliseconds before a consciousness recognizes the thought. However, when the balance between easy and hard is right for a person one falls into a so called state of flow. That's is the perfect condition to enjoy the game the most when one virtually dissoves in the task and forgets about the outer world. The latter may explain why it's fine for one and why it infuriates another. So what options are the best? Accept any word in any order, that may make the game too (easy and because of the) boring in a long term? Keep the order and give an award/bonus for guessing additional words? Adding context? Let the game learn more on people reactions and adapt? Make it easier in the beginning, so players could get used to the challenge? (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Next > Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
In the interests of full disclosure, I got a promo code for this one yesterday so I've had a few hours to play. Up to level 7 so far and it's enjoyable and very nicely presented. As the puzzles get harder, you are encouraged to look ahead and think about what letters/words you need to form before you get to the next clue. I think my only issue is that there have been occasions on some puzzles where it feels like I'm just guessing multiple words in a grid until I finally find the one the AI needs me to find to move onto the next clue, and that can get a bit frustrating (and I suppose that's why you need hints -- not so much to solve the clues, but more to push you along). Anyway, good so far and I'll keep on playing!
There would be much less of a challenge and not so much of a puzzle if it would accept simply any word the letters can be used to build So, eventually, it would become boring to always win. Other than that, when you finally guess exactly the "hard" word that is hidden it should give you more dopamine/pleasure. It was the original idea, although, as you all know, we are always listening to users and a open to suggestions. How do you guys think we should improve/handle it? P.S. A planned update will give bonuses when you find a correct word, but not the one that is hidden.
I got a little further because I was curious, but agreed. Deleting. It's not a game to guess what the AI is thinking without any context. Either add *actual* hints/clues that give context as to the word you're looking for or just accept any words the player comes up with. Otherwise, it's not really a game.
In most games of this type your challenge is to find a specific word that is hidden, not just any word. Thats the point of the game - to make you think looking for more possible alternatives. AI helped us to collect words from different sources and range them according to the frequency of occurrence. So in the beginning youll find relatively easy and short words (3-4 letters mostly), thus a great variety of possible variants. While youre getting further, the difficulty of the words increases so as the word length (up to 7 letters). But the number of alternatives decreases accordingly.
But without any clues or context, it literally becomes just a guessing game of a combination of letters. This is also something that bothered me with Typeshift. Commendable for using advanced AI in your effort. But I don't know. A wild letter goose chase just doesn't sound fun to me . Most word games either give you points for any words you create for the letters given. Or, like a crossword puzzle, give you a clue to come up with an exact word.
You're right, we're considering giving bonuses if you find existing words, just not the ones that are hidden. The comments here convince us that it would be the right thing for the next update.
I can see why this could infuriate people, though I'm still sticking with it for now. At some points it's more about guessing the right letters rather than testing your vocabulary or word-building skills (as also mentioned above, this is probably TypeShift's biggest failure). E.g. there are times when I think to myself, it wouldn't matter if these were letters or not, because it's more of a puzzle game than a word game. This is NOT necessarily a bad thing at all, it's just different and worth thinking about.
Kind of weird seeing everyone compare this to Typeshift, because Typeshift doesn't force you to find the words the developer thought of. You just need to use up all the letters to make any words. Except for the clue levels, of course, which make sense the way they are.
I do think that maybe it should be where you get all the points for making the hidden word, but the game will still accept any valid word you make with those letters, for a lower score. This way, if you're a perfectionist you can try again, but f you just want to make words you can. For me, part of the fun of any word game is exercising my vocabulary.
Well, you're right that you aren't necessarily forced to use a specific word in Typeshift. But, as even Shaun Musgrave pointed out in his review, it also has a feeling that you're just trying different combinations of letters until you find the right one. With some obscure words, it does often force a specific word. The hint levels made more sense. It's not the same as other games where you have tons of letters to find words and score points. That's just my take, which made the game disappointing, and I know others that felt that way. ---- Anyway, good to hear the dev on this game is taking our concerns into consideration.
Agreed and very good suggestion re: adding context. Hope the dev sees this and considers it for the next build.
Someone deleted my comment and left the viagra spam? Edit: Oops, not deleted. Just there's more viagra spam.
My own gameplay impressions tell me that it's exactly what Typeshift does - you need to guess/build words the developer thought of (although not in a specific order). Under a Spell gives some clues too. If you swipe through the hidden words at the top. You can see than some words have colored letters that are basically the clues. Once you look a bit upfront you find the word the that uses colored letters. After that it's much easier to guess the precceding words. That helps a lot as letters mostly aren't reused. Differs from level to level, of course, but for me it's more or less easy, and I play English, although English isn't my mother tongue.
Chalk N Talk. I like word games, but I rather have Chalk n Talk back online than trying new formulas. Besides... Timers.
That's where my thought are going at this moment. Accepting any word would make it yet another BookWorm, that is more like a match 3 than a puzzle. But getting people less furious is a valid point, for what some gameplay perks are already planned.
Sorry, not gonna argue with the developer. I gave some feedback and do with it as you will. You can insist it's like Typeshift if you want, but you're not going to convince me of it.
I can say that I see all mentioned above points very clearly and our team not only appreciates a feedback, but also takes it into account when it comes to updates My posts were not directed to convince anyone to change their mind. I was just trying to explain why its like that in the current gameplay. I'm listening everyone in this thread with the most attention. Although, I'm not the only developer of the game - there is a whole team behind it. Though the question remains - what would be better to improve the game in a scope of a word game. I'm trying to imagine options and to look though all of them. Currently it's clear that some people don't accept the challenge and want simpler gameplay. Why it happens is more or less obvious. Most people probably are just skipping though the tutorial and it may take time for them to get used to the current gameplay when the game expects a specific word of all possible combinations the available letters provide. In the middle of it they mat get furious and rage quit. Yet, according to many recent scientific studies it's a natural process. Brain activity does consume a lot of energy when it is not about survival. When a person is about to solve a challenging puzzle the brain tries to prevent energy loss and a person subconsciousnessly may decide not to go with an energy consumig task, as a thought becomes formed in the brain dozens milliseconds before a consciousness recognizes the thought. However, when the balance between easy and hard is right for a person one falls into a so called state of flow. That's is the perfect condition to enjoy the game the most when one virtually dissoves in the task and forgets about the outer world. The latter may explain why it's fine for one and why it infuriates another. So what options are the best? Accept any word in any order, that may make the game too (easy and because of the) boring in a long term? Keep the order and give an award/bonus for guessing additional words? Adding context? Let the game learn more on people reactions and adapt? Make it easier in the beginning, so players could get used to the challenge?
