Simple but devilishly addictive (Wordox)

Name: gillyman

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Product:	Wordox
Date:	18/11/02 (371 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to pick up

Disadvantages: Hard to put down

I was first introduced to Wordox one boring afternoon about a year ago. Fortunately, the work network won't let me play it otherwise I'd never get anything done.

Wordox is a variation of Scrabble, with a couple of wicked little twists, for you to play on line, against your mates or with total strangers.

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Where?
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I generally play on flipside - for some reason the UK address is not responding right now but try it http://uk.flipside.com, failing that however www.flipside.com will do the trick. A quick scan of google shows that it is available at multiple sites and in a variety of languages - I assume that the principle is the same everywhere.

Once in the site, you should find Wordox on one of the menus. Flipside requires you to register but I have not received any junk mail as a result of this that I am aware of.

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Gameplay
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The game is for 2 - 4 players. You can choose either to start your own game or an existing board. In the former case, you can decide who else plays, how many points you need to win and how long each turn is. If you are joining on then someone else calls the shots.

The board is similar to a scrabble board measuring 13 x 13 only with no major bonus tiles. There is one rack of letters which is shared by all players. The letters are all worth one point so there is no advantage to having an intimate knowledge of every word with a Q or Z in.

The first player has to make a word starting in the centre of the board, and all subsequent words must cross over or add onto an existing word in exactly the same way as scrabble. Each player receives points for their word, the letters of which are that player's colour (red, yellow, green or blue)

Simple up til now? Okay - so here is the twist. When a player uses a letter of an existing word in making a new word, that letter changes to
his colour. Not only does he score a point, but the player who originally placed the letter, loses a point.

This becomes more interesting still when you steal entire words. Here is an example. Player 1 gets 4 points when he spells out "Word". Player 2 adds an S to the bottom of to make "Words" and makes his own word "See" giving him 7 points. Player 3 adds an S to "Words" to make "Swords" and adds his own word "Saw". At this point, player 1 has no points, player 2 has 2 points and player 3 has 8 points.

Around the Wordox board in a diamond shape, are 20 orange squares. A player covering one of these squares with a letter will be eligible for a bonus point if he "finishes off" the round. These potential bonus points cannot be taken by other players, no matter how many times a letter changes hands.

In the four corners of the board and the centre of each side is a red square. Covering this square with a letter clears the board. This means that all points are saved. In addition, the player who "finishes off" will be credited 1 point for every orange square that he covered.

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Strategy
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Possibly the most important element of the overall strategy is to find words which cannot be added to or placing words in a way that they cannot be added to. At the same time it is very important to be aware of words placed around the board that can be added to in some way.

It is important to consider who you are taking points away from - always try to take away from the biggest threat if possible.

Finishing off may keep your points safe but might do the same for an opponent and gives them the possibility to start afresh with a clean board.

Learn small words - it makes it easier to steal and to build.

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Chat
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There is a chat function which you can use to talk to y
our fellow players in the course of a game. You can also go into other games and chat or just hang out.

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Conclusion
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Good and addictive whilst giving the brain a good work out!

Summary: