Bookworm Adventure: Volume 2
Ages: Everyone

Whoa! The last time I played Bookworm Lex was there just to give me encouragement. Now he's battling against hundreds of villains from fairy tales and is dealing with things like power-ups, curses, purification, healing, and adding damage to his attack - sounds like an RPG to me.

You can play it as a simple word spelling game, where you get the most credit for longer words and using hard to use letters and just sit back as Lex womps his story-book enemies. However, bit by bit the RPG strategy begins to creep up on you; should you put off using the amethyst tile that will poison your enemy or restore Lex's health with the emerald tile? Winning now involves getting potions that will restore heath, remove curses or power down your enemy and it's hard not to take advantage of these options.

Over 130 storybook villains outnumber the helpful companions of which there are only two per book, but they are really helpful and have the best lines in the game. The villains occupy the right side of the screen with information listing their strengths and weaknesses. In each attack the opponents pound each other with satisfying sights and sounds.

There are timed mini-games for extra potions or points with completely different rules. PopCap has included a "read-me" file that is almost like a walkthrough - read it if you want to max out your points. Another hallmark of the PopCap style is a reference book on aspects of the game that occurs somewhere after the first section of the games. In this case, it is called the "Tome of Knowledge", which tells you which story the villains come from. A nice indication of their respect for their games and for the player.

It's a substantial game in this version - three books: Fractured Fairytales, The Monkey King and Astounding Planet with ten chapters in each. In the future, PopCap plans to issue them as separate games.

It can be downloaded for a one hour free trial or purchased for $19.95 at http://www.popcap.com/games/bookwormadventures2/. Chances are, you won't want to give up the treasures you've won.

http://www.popcap.com/games/bookwormadventures2/ $19.95

Fun Factor: The RPG factor adds surprising life to the word game
Female Factor: Well, we have Mother Goose.
Player Friendly: Saves upon exiting, do not have to complete a level.

Reviewed by: Editor - 08/09