Use Your Vocabulary to Fight Monsters in Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey
Scrabble bores me, but if I had to fight monsters while playing it, I might be more interested. Bacon Bandit Games somehow managed to guess that without ever having met me, creating a turn-based RPG where you fight the various creatures in the game by using an allotment of letter tiles to spell words. I still thought spelling words out of the pile would be a little dull, but Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey is a blast.
You start with fifteen letters to play around with, and using them to spell words causes damage to your enemies. The longer or more complex the word, the more damage you deal. Don’t worry about a time limit (unless you’re on a challenge map), as you have all the time you’d like to play around with the letters. They light up when you have a correct word, and even give you a rundown on what the word means. Not only was I busting ghosts, but I was also learning what words like ‘targe’ meant. It’s not often that I learn while enjoying a game, but Bacon Bandit has pulled this off seamlessly.
Each area in the game has a certain assortment of monsters to beat, and finishing that stage unlocks challenge maps for that level. If you think you’re tough, trying beating the level within thirty seconds or only using a word or two. The game isn’t just about spelling the right words, either, as it quickly adds various tiles with new effects. You can do more damage, less damage, or add several other neat things to the fight just by choosing letters with certain properties as you play. Doing well rewards you with lots of little gems from the monsters and stages that will let you upgrade your health and damage, or let you play around with new characters and weapons.
It’s fast, easy to play, and all of the unlockables and challenges mean it’ll offer some quick, fun brain exercise for hours on end. There’s a free demo to try out on the developer’s site. If you enjoy it, the game is also on Greenlight, and I’m sure they would appreciate a Yes vote.
