W.E.L.D.E.R. is a word game found on iTunes and playable on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. It’s like a cross between Bejeweled and Scrabble, but with a limited number of moves. If you enjoy challenging word games, this is one to get because it requires more than just the ability to spell. It currently sells for $3.99.

This game is presented on an 8x8 board populated by different types of tiles. Some have letters and some are blank so you can place your own letters. Others cannot be moved while others grant score multipliers if you use them to make a word. The object of the game is to simply put letters together to form words, but it gets complicated in how you go about shifting the tiles around.

To swap tiles, simply tap one then tap another one next to it. You will be given a finite number of times to do this per game, but you do earn more as you go along. You can also do what’s called a jump, where you can swap tiles from anywhere on the board, but this is limited to a few times per game. As you progress, you can also shift several tiles at once or flip them around to change the direction. Once you start doing that, it’s time to start thinking ahead.

Each level requires you to form a certain number of words to complete the level, and you have less swaps than you do word requirements. This means you have to set up the tiles in ways that form more than one word at a time, and then you want to pick up more when the letters cascade down to fall in place of where your word used to be. Just like in Bejeweled, you greatly benefit from setting off chain reactions, but it’s not always easy to foresee what might happen.

Since this game is all about the words and letters, there isn’t much to the graphics. I liked its retro, almost Steampunk, look with rolling numbers like on an old alarm clock. The board has a metallic look and it uses a lot of earthy tones like brown and gray and darker reds. Small animations show when words are formed, but it’s not distracting. The sound involves a lot of metallic clinking and grinding, which fits the look of the game. It’s like you are playing the game on some kind of old metal contraption and the graphics and sound match that well.

Although this is not an online multiplayer game, it does use the iCloud so you can play the game between multiple devices. This means you could start a session on your iPhone and then finish it on your iPad. I have an iPad 2 and an iPod Touch and play between them. It shows as full screen on my iPad and the graphics are slightly different, but I like that it doesn’t show in a windowed mode.

I think W.E.L.D.E.R. is one of the best word games out there. It’s very addictive and really requires you to think beyond simply lining up letters. Check it out if you dare, but make sure you have some free time before you start playing because it is highly addictive.

You can get it from iTunes here - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/w.e.l.d.e.r./id471056941?mt=8

Recommended: Yes