Publisher: Zach Gage
Price: $3.99/£2.49
Genre: Word Matching
Fullscreen Support |
Mouse Support |
File Size |
Launch Date |
Required Specifications |
No |
Mouse Preferred |
7.7 MB——- |
25th June 2012 |
None Specified |
Rating
Pros: Slick and simple, same great gameplay.
Cons: Unaltered to reflect the Mac’s screen size, no fullscreen mode, not quite as intuitive controls.
Review
As one of the first games to be Mountain Lion only, SpellTower innovates surprisingly little on its mobile counterpart. Whilst the mantra “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rings true in some instances, the lack of even a fullscreen mode is certainly not the norm on the Mac gaming scene.
SpellTower is a very slick and simple word-matching game split into 4 modes; Tower, Puzzle, Ex Puzzle and Rush. Tower gives you a complete grid of letters with the aim of getting the highest score with the limited selection of letters. Puzzle and Ex Puzzle has you working to make every word count, with a row of letters being added every turn. The game ends when a column of letters hits the top. The latter mode is a harder version of the former. Rush is a frantic race to match words and prevent letters from the reaching the top, with rows being added quickly over time.
SpellTower for Mac is relatively unchanged from the iOS version of the game, and that’s its biggest problem. SpellTower doesn’t play in fullscreen, and that’s purely because the game’s screen size is that of an iPad size. No graphical changes have been implemented to reflect the Mac’s larger screen, or to take advantage of the extra real-estate. It’s disappointing to say the least, and you can’t help but feel like you’re playing a half-baked version of what should be an excellent native Mac title.
What’s more, the intuitive drag mechanic to select letters doesn’t work as well with a mouse or trackpad. Albeit the controls work, but the game has an interactive touch interface-shaped hole which hasn’t been filled.
But no matter in what shape or form SpellTower comes in, it still contains that winning word-matching formula that made it so popular in the first place. It could have used more Mac-specific bells and whistles, but makes do with a vibrant colour palette and generally slick gameplay taken right off the touchscreen.
