HexaLex
Price: $2.99
Developer: Nathan Gray
Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad
Words With Friends and the official Scrabble game for iPhone and iPad have taken word game fans by storm, but a new contender, HexaLex, has thrown it’s hat into the ring. Scrabble-like games are a dime a dozen on the AppStore, but does HexaLex bring enough to the table to justify a purchase? We’ve got at least seven reasons. Hit the jump to find out!
Game Mechanics
While HexaLex retains many gameplay mechanics of crossword games, the most noticeable difference are the hexagonal tiles and board. On a normal Scrabble board, words branch out horizontally and vertically, but with HexaLex words spring out diagonally as well. While the hexagonal shape allows for more word possibilities, the diagonal paths created by them can also cramp players at times since they seem to have a knack for running into each other.
HexaLex includes it’s own take on bonus tiles, but the most notable scoring revamp are the bingo, bridie and a fiver. A bingo is a 7-tile play that gets a 40 point bonus, a birdie is a 6-tile play that gets a 15 point bonus and a fiver is a 5-tile play that earns players a 5 point bonus.
Connectivity
While HexaLex doesn’t integrate with Twitter, which is probably a good thing to wean us off our addiction, it does allow players to publish their exploits to Facebook. Just hit the button that says “brag” after you’ve unlocked an achievement and it will be posted to your Facebook wall and news feed. With over 30 medals to earn by making great plays and beating opponents, HexaLex has enough achievements to interest your friends in it or at least annoy them with Facebook status updates.
Looks and Design
HexaLex has a slick look that compliments a simple and easy to use menu system which, if a comparison is needed, is much easier to use than that of Words With Friends’. It’s pretty impressive when you consider that HexaLex was developed by a single person.
Where does HexaLex beat the competition?
It’s the little things that make the game experience much more enjoyable and there are quite a few features that help HexaLex beat the competition.
Singleplayer
While the Words With Friends provides a great to play with others, but the downside is that there’s no single player mode. This can be a problem if you’d like to pass around an iPhone to play among friends or especially if your friends are slow to make their moves. Hexalex fixes that problem with a multiplayer mode.
Adjustable Difficulty
Not only does HexaLex make sure you have an opponent even when your friends aren’t around, it also takes care of difficulty. Let’s face it. Sometimes you get blown out of the water by some random person on the Internet and you just need someone or something that’s on your same skill level.
Local Multiplayer
While HexaLex includes the same great online multiplayer mode that Words With Friends has, it adds another layer of play. If you want the multiplayer experience to extend offline HexaLex makes it possible with a local multiplayer mode that allows up to four players. Just pass around an iPhone between four friends and you’re good to go.
Customizable Rules
HexaLex lets users spice up the ol’ word game even more with customizeable rules.
Tile Placement
While saying that dragging tiles onto the board is tiring might be a little extreme, HexaLex gives you no room to complain. Place your first tile by hand then an arrow will apear. Tap the arrow until it’s facing the direction the rest of your tiles will go and simply tap your tiles from your rack int he order you want them place.
Error Feedback
Instead of submitting your gaggle of letters to see if it really is a word, HexaLex lets players know if they are real words in real-time as tiles are placed. It also alerts players to see if they’re within the limit of junk words allowed.
Dictionary
“If [Insert Here] isn’t a word, it should be!” “How in the hell could that be a word?!” ”These people must be using a dictionary!” We’ve all had the same thoughts. HexaLex’s developer has felt our frustration and gave us a dictionary of our own. Just tap the dictionary icon and you’ll be on your way to making sense of the random assortment of words that sit on your rack.
Verdict
The only downside to HexaLex is getting your friends to switch over from Words with Friends. While you wait, you can have fun in Single Player mode with the other 6 stand-out features we listed above. It’s worth the wait especially when considering its competitors have less features for the same, or a higher, price.
Scrabble-like games are making the iTunes AppStore burst at its seams, but HexaLex is a fresh and polished take on an old favorite. If you’re a scrabble junkie or want a new take on Words With Friends or a similar game, HexaLex is the iPlatform App for you.
HexaLex is available on the iTunes App Store for $2.99.
This review was based on a review copy provided by the publisher.
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