‘Word Play' Review: Scrabble Meets Balatro In This Bargain Game
It's not all that often that word games are bobbing near the top of the Steam charts. Word Play has been hovering near the top of the Popular New Releases since it was launched earlier this month and after a few hours playing the game you can see why it's earned a 92% rating on Steam.
Word Play is Scrabble meets Balatro, a game where you score more points for plonking down long words, but with a roguelike element to it. Like Balatro, you have to earn a target score before you can advance to the next round, and there are all kinds of perks and modifiers that can increase the score of the words you play.
Also like Balatro, it's disgustingly addictive.
Word Play Gameplay
At first glance, World Play looks more like another popular word game: Boggle. Your letters are arranged in a four-by-four grid and you're looking for the longest words. Four letters is the minimum, but there are bonus points on offer for five-letter words or longer.
The scoring is identical to Scrabble – ten points for the Q and Z, a point each for the vowels and common consonants, and so on. However, the real scoring comes from the perks (similar to Balatro's jokers) that you obtain as you move through the rounds.
These add scoring bonuses to the words that you play or apply other power-ups that help you play. For example, you might get a 3x bonus score for the second letter in every word, or a +4 bonus if a word contains an E. Those bonuses can carry over, so the +4 becomes +8 if the next word you play also contains an E, for example.
To get through the harder rounds, you're probably going to need to find perks that synergize with one another. For example, there's a perk that refreshes your letters if they don't contain an E, which works very nicely with the perk mentioned previously that cranks up your score for words containing that letter.
In addition to the perks, there are upgrades (think Baltatro's tarot cards) that can permanently increase the score of letters in your bag or allow you to switch one letter for another. There are modifiers that vary the rules of the game, such as turning a Q into a Qu to make it easier to play. There are gifts and special tiles that make it easier to score points.
Like Balatro, it all sounds quite complicated and finicky when you write it down, but after a few rounds of play you'll quickly get the hang of it.
Winning Word Play
Some rounds make you play the highlighted letters
The aim of the game is to progress through the rounds, accumulating enough points to move on to the next, until you've won the final round. Some rounds have special rules, such as forcing you to play a certain letter or only allowing words that are six letters or longer to make it more challenging.
You only get a limited number of 'plays' in each round, and there are only so many tiles in your bag, so you've got to make sure you're scoring heavily each time you play a word in the later rounds, or else you'll bust.
It's a clever, cleanly designed game that will run on practically anything – PC, Mac or Steam Deck. The only thing I don't like about it is the irritating music, but that's easily switched off. For less than $10, Word Play is a B-A-R-G-A-I-N (yes, only ten points scored, but you should see my perks).
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Digital Trends
2 hours ago
- Digital Trends
Abyssus feels like Deep Rock Galactic and Dead Cells had an ocean-dwelling baby
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Geek Vibes Nation
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It Happened In "Red Dead Redemption 2"...A Better Late Than Never Review
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If you have the opportunity, you need to try this great game. No matter that it has a bit of years on it now. Red Dead Redemption 2 still holds up well. You will not be disappointed.
Entrepreneur
9 hours ago
- Entrepreneur
Game Developer SuperGaming Raises USD 15 Mn in Series B Round
Funding led by Skycatcher and Steadview Capital will also support expansion of the company's SuperPlatform for large‑scale multiplayer games. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. SuperGaming, a leading game developer, has secured USD 15 million in a Series B funding round led by existing investors Skycatcher and Steadview Capital. Additional participation came from global strategic investors such as a16z Speedrun, Bandai Namco 021 Fund, Polygon Ventures, Neowiz, GFR Fund, IVC Japan, and several individual backers including Polygon cofounder Sandeep Nailwal. The company stated that the funds will be used to roll out its Indo‑Futuristic battle royale title "Indus" internationally, beginning with Latin America in collaboration with Brazilian esports organisation Investment will also support expansion of its proprietary game development and publishing technology, particularly its cloud‑based SuperPlatform, designed for building and managing large‑scale multiplayer games. Roby John, CEO and Co-founder of SuperGaming, said, "We are at an inflection point where India's role in gaming evolves from a consumer market to a driving force in innovation." John added that "Indus Battle Royale" represents the scale and quality the studio can achieve, while the broader aim is to provide technology that empowers game developers worldwide. SuperGaming was founded in 2017 by Navneet Waraich, Sanket Nadhani, Avinash Pandey, Sreejit Jayanthan, and Roby John. The company operates from Pune and Singapore and employs more than 120 people. Its portfolio includes popular mobile titles such as MaskGun, Tower Conquest, Battle Stars, and Silly Royale, which collectively have over 200 million downloads. SuperPlatform, developed in partnership with Google Cloud, is one of the company's most significant assets. It offers tools for live game operations, telemetry, analytics, monetisation, and social features, targeting developers in emerging markets who may not have access to advanced backend technology. The platform supports both Web2 and Web3 games. SuperGaming has also been active in blockchain gaming. Through a partnership with B3 GameChain, a gaming‑focused Layer‑3 blockchain built on Base, the firm enables interoperability and digital asset ownership for players. Silly Royale, one of its flagship games, is live on SuperGaming's own Layer‑3 chain powered by B3. Bandai Namco 021 Fund investor Natsuhiro Maruyama said the partnership combines Bandai Namco's global intellectual property expertise with SuperGaming's understanding of the Indian gaming market, creating opportunities for growth in India and internationally. Industry observers note that India's gaming sector is expanding rapidly. Market research estimates project annual revenue of USD 9.2 billion by the 2029 financial year. SuperGaming reported revenue of INR 43.4 crore for the fiscal year ending March 2024, with a net profit of INR 3.9 crore. With the fresh funding, the company plans to accelerate its game launches in Latin America and the Middle East, strengthen its development capabilities, and continue building infrastructure to support large‑scale, community‑driven multiplayer games.
