WordZap (Game)

WordZap

GAME » on 1991

Browser (Platform)Game Boy (Platform)PC (Platform)

An adaptation of the classic word-based puzzle game Boggle, with players racing to fill their rack with words made from a random assortment of letters before their opponent. If both players find the same word, it is "zapped" out of both racks.

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Overview

WordZap, sometimes known as WordZap: An Addictionary Game, is a word-finding puzzle game developed by Michael F. C. Crick and published by Microsoft for Windows PCs in 1991 (as part of Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3 (Game)). It received multiple revisions throughout the years as shareware, later becoming playable online [https:/wordzap.com here].

An unofficial adaptation of the real-life word game Boggle (Franchise), WordZap is a multiplayer game (against a human or CPU opponent, the former requiring networked play) where two players race to fill up their seven-word rack with proper three-to-five letter English words comprised of a random assortment of letters. Its name comes from the occurrence of words "zapping" from both players' racks if they both find it, requiring players to come up with more difficult words in order to win.

The game is based on an earlier Windows and Amiga (Platform) prototype in 1988 known as "WordHai". One of the few freeware games for pre-3.0 Windows systems, WordHai is a single-player game that combines the word-finding system of Boggle with mahjong solitaire (hence the portmanteau of "word" and the 1986 game Shanghai (Game)).

It later received a handheld adaptation for the Game Boy (Platform), ported by Realtime Associates and published by Jaleco exclusively in North America on September 1992. Along with the standard WordZap (which has linked multiplayer support via the Game Boy Link Cable), it includes an adaptation of the original WordHai. This version was originally planned to be sold in 1991 by Meldac of America as WordHai.

The Help file for the original PC version notes a version released by Crick for the Amiga (Platform), with cross-platform support using the compatible 25-pin null-modem cable. It is unknown whether or not this version was actually released or if it's lost media.

Gameplay

WordZap

The original PC version of the game included two separate modes: EasyZap and WordZap. In the Game Boy version, these are the "Any Letter" and "Next Letter" WordZap modes respectively.

In EasyZap, players are given 8 random letters in a 4×2 assortment, and can use letters from anywhere in the assortment (although they cannot use that letter more than once).
In WordZap, players are given 15 random letters in a 5×3 assortment, and each letter after the first must be adjacent to any of the ones before it, either horizontally or vertically. Unlike Boggle, diagonals do not count and it doesn't need to be adjacent to the previous letter.

As players form words on their rack, there can be cases where both players find the same word, in which the word is "zapped" and erased from both racks. The first player to spell seven unique words, or the player with the most unique words (or most letters, in the case of the same amount) wins the round.

Other options for the game include whether or not plural words can be used and handicap systems for both single-player (affecting the CPU player's vocabulary level and speed) and multiplayer (affecting whether or not a player starts with words in their rack). The PC version of the game requires mouse controls.

In later shareware versions, the game raises the maximum word size to six while adding new dictionary settings and online/LAN multiplayer options. It also features two new modes, both of which disallow words of a three-letter length: LongZap (EasyZap with 9 letters in a 3×3 assortment) and MatchZap (WordZap with 16 letters in a 4×4 assortment).

WordHai

Used in the original prototype and included in the Game Boy version (in three modes: "Challenge Play", "Free Play", and "Timed Turns"), WordHai differs from WordZap in that it is a single-player game where, as players form words with the tile arrangement, the tiles themselves are cleared from the board in the same fashion as one-layer mahjong solitaire (where only the tiles on the left and right edges of the arrangement can be used).

In the original prototype and early levels of the Game Boy version, players form seven three-letter words from a 7×3 arrangement. Later levels in the Game Boy version has players form six four-letter words from a 6×4 arrangement, while the last levels has players form five five-letter words from a 5×5 arrangement.

The original prototype includes options for scoring that are similar to Scrabble (Franchise) (with each letter having their own point count and certain spots on the rock giving double or triple points), a hint system, word difficulty settings, and the option to undo letters added to the rack. There is no in-game timer, so the game can be played in a leisurely pace.

The Game Boy version doesn't include the scoring system, but splits the game into three modes:

Challenge Play is a single-player campaign mode where players attempt to play through 24 rounds of WordHai, split into six total sets (each forming a picture of a famous worldwide landmark), with two 3-letter sets, two 4-letter sets, and two 5-letter sets. It includes a lives system, with players have a limited amount of "chances" before the game ends, and has a limited amount of hints.
Free Play is the standard single-player mode, with the player able to choose any arrangement with no restrictions on undos and hints.
Timed Turns is a hotseat multiplayer version of Free Play, where two players alternate playing the same tile arrangement and the player who solved it in the faster time wins the round.

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