WordOMatic - Instructions

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.