WordOMatic Instructions
WordOMatic is a simple game to learn and play. The game rules are
quite clear and after playing only one or two games you should have a good
idea of how to play. The game is available for desktop PC's and also for
PDA's so I will explain the controls first. The rest of this guide should
be suitable for all versions.
Game Controls
Slide rows of letters using the Left Mouse Button or PDA Stylus. Remove
complete words by pressing the Right Mouse Button. On a PDA, remove words
by tapping the Word Area or tapping Word Light. On a Mac, remove words
by pressing Space. The Word Light will flash green when you align complete words.
Game Basics
Rearrange the colored letters by sliding rows and columns to form
words across or down. The words created are removed and replaced
with fresh Grey letters. Words must use at least 3 letters and
a maximum of 6 letters.
Each time you remove some words, the remaining "Letter Tiles" change
colour from Grey through Gold, Green, Blue and Red. After Red
the Tile becomes void. The object of the game is to recycle all
available letters before they become void. You must prioritize
the Blue and Red Tiles.
You can create multiple words (often by accident) but it's not overly
important to do so. However, as the game progresses it may be necessary
to create two or three words in order to clear out the colour letters.
The game will continue until it is impossible to create new words
from the remaining letters. If you can stop your letters from turning
void the game will continue.
Points System
Each letter of the alphabet has a standard points value but as the letters
change colour, the value goes up. It is tempting to allow letters to age
in order to get more points. You should also try to avoid repeating
words; words that are repeated will have their value reduced by up to 40
points depending on how soon it is repeated. After 50 words the penalty
for a particular word is lifted.
Special Tiles
The game has 3 special tiles which appear at random. Two of the special
tiles are bad, and one is good.
The first special tile is the Time Bomb. This tile is
red and while in colour and lasts for 30 seconds. You must remove
this letter as quick as you can. If the time runs out, it will
instantly turn into a void tile.
The second special tile is the Radioactivity Tile.
This tile is green in colour with a powerful radioactive glow. This
tile lasts for 30 seconds and will cause surrounding tiles to
change in colour. It is important to remove this tile quickly to
reduce the amount of negative colour change. You may want to
move this tile into a corner where there are fewer surrounding
tiles but most importantly remove it as soon as possible.
The third special tile is the Tile of Goodness. This
tile is pure white with a heavenly glow. This tile has an opposite
effect to the Radioactivity Tile and will reduce the colour
change of surrounding tiles. It's a good idea to move Red and
Blue tiles close to this during it's 30 second
life span. The pure white glow is so bright, you are unable to
see its letter. This means it's possible to accidently remove
the tile in a new word.
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