Pros: A fun and educational game which is suitable for most ages
Cons: No full screen option
The Bottom Line: Boggle is a fun game which is suitable for most ages - it is educational and will be a game that you will want to play over and over again.
I have been a fan of crosswords, anagrams, scrabble and other similar word games for as long as I can remember which is how I came about discovering Boggle.
I have never played the board game style version of Boggle and didn't really know much about it until one day, whilst browsing through some old demo C D Roms, I stumbled on a free downloadable demo version of it and from then on I was hooked and went out to buy the full version.
Boggle is a word game, but unlike Scrabble it is not played with tiles and a board but with lettered cubes and a 16 square grid, ( I will describe how it is played throughout my opinion).
The computer version of Boggle not only consists of the original Boggle game but also has 4 additional bonus variations of the game. Loading the game onto your PC is very easy as there are on screen instructions which take you through the set up process step by step.
Once you have installed the game you are presented with a menu with displays the four different versions of the game. From this menu you can decide which game you wish to play and where possible whether you wish to play it alone, with up to 3 other human competitors or against the computer, some games can only be played individually.
You can also chose which level of the game you wish to play, either the Original level, for which you need to create words of 3 letters or more from the 16 square grid or if you wish to play the more taxing Master version you are presented with a 20 square grid from which you must create words of 4 letters or more. You can chop and change between the two as you please and you don't have to play every game as Master or Original, you can amend the level between games if you wish but you cannot change the level during a game.
The five games available to play are.
~*~ CLASSIC MODE - FOR UP TO FOUR PLAYERS ~*~
This is the original version of the game Boggle and it is played as follows.
You can choose whether you wish to play alone, or with up to three other players. You can also decide whether the other players are to be beginners, intermediate or advanced players or if you prefer you can choose to play against Mr Boggle, (the computer).
Once you have decided who is playing you are taken to the start game screen where you are presented with an egg timer and the familiar Boggle 16 square grid which is laid out in a 4 x 4 matrix, with randomly selected letters on display, these change each time you start a new game.
The idea of this game is to create as many words as possible within the 3 minute time limit set by the egg timer, each word must consist of 3 letters or more, (or 4 letters or more if you are playing the Master version).
If you are playing against other players you take it in turns to choose your words - I find this takes forever and prefer to play alone.
Each time you select a letter it is highlighted so that you know that you have already used it. You can use the letters over and over again in different words but you can only use each letter in the grid once in each word.
As you choose your words they are listed for you to view on the right hand side of the screen, if you have chosen a word that the computer does not recognise it lists the word in red and at the end of the time limit it asks whether you wish to include the word or not.
Each word you create scores you points, the longer the word you make the more points you score. At the end of the time limit the computer tells you your score and which level you have achieved. The levels range from junior through to wordsmith.
This is a highly addictive game which once you start playing you will find it very hard to stop.
~*~ BATTLE BOGGLE FOR TWO PLAYERS ~*~
As the name suggests this version is a battle between two players and therefore if you are playing alone you will need to select Mr Boggle to be your opponent.
The game comprises of 2 players who each start with 8 cubes, a tray in the middle of their letters and five minutes on the clock.
To play the game each player must choose in turn one of their cubes to place in the tray, which is situated in between both players letters, once they have laid their letter they can then try to make as many words as possible from the letters available, the letters available for play must be next to each other either side by side, above and below or diagonally for them to be able to be played. When the player has made as many new words that they can see they can pass play over to the next player in order for him to lay his cube and commence making new words.
I'm not that keen on this game but if there were two of you playing competitively I expect it would be quite good fun.
~*~ SPACE BOGGLE FOR 1 PLAYER ~*~
This game is for one player only and is a consists of a random selection of letters towards you. As you realise you can make a word you have to click on the letter coming towards you until you have made your word.
This game is played in rounds, in each round you must make 5 words in the 1 minute time limit before you can progress to the next round. In each round you have to make 1 more word, this is made increasingly harder as the cubes also begin to move faster.
~*~ IN YOUR FACE BOGGLE - FOR 1 PLAYER ~*~
Similarly to Classic Boggle, In your Face Boggle uses the normal 16 square grid, (or 20 square in the Master version). The idea of this game is similar to the Classic game of Boggle where you have to make as many words as possible within the time limit, however, as you use a cube it disappears from the grid - when you have made as many words as possible from the remaining letters, or if you're really clever and you have used all the letters, you can select raise cubes, if you have ran out of time the cubes raise automatically, each time the cubes raise they move closer and closer to you - however as you chip away and remove cubes you can gain extra time - beware though because once they do get In Your Face you will find it increasingly difficult trying to remove the letters before the cubes raise again. The game is finished when the cubes has been raised the maximum amount of times.
~*~ BREAKAWAY - FOR ONE TO FOUR PLAYERS ~*~
This game starts with one large cube which is made up from 64 grid like smaller cubes which are suspended in mid air. The idea of the game is to gradually chip away cubes whilst making words of 3 letters or more, (4 in the Masters game). Like the other games you can only move cubes that are next to each other - this cube is in a 3D shape and as you remove the top cube you will reveal the cubes below. Once you can no longer remove any more cubes from the 3D shaped large cube you can opt to realign the cube - however you can only choose this option once - the game finishes either when you have ran out of letters, (I don't think so), or when you have ran out of time, (far more likely).
So there you have it, the five variations of Boggle that are included within this games package.
I bought this game about 18 months ago from W H Smiths and paid £10.00 for it - great value for money considering there are actually five games for the price of one.
The only thing I don't like about this game is the fact that it doesn't use the full screen, nor does it have an option to allow you to play it in full screen mode. Other than that, the graphics are quite simple, in so far as all you get is the grid you are playing on set upon a relatively boring background, however, in all honestly the graphics are perfectly adequate for what is required and I don't think that they need to be any more complex than they are. There is an option to change the background wallpaper - but having said that none of the backgrounds are very exciting.
There are three sound options, being no sound, loop sound and cd sound - to be honest you don't really need sound and the sound, even the cd sound which is probably the best option, isn't very exciting. The only noise that you hear when playing a game is the clicking of letters when you select them - this can be a bit annoying and is probably better turned off anyway.
If you enjoy word games and are fed up with playing the mandatory Scrabble type games I would highly recommend that you try Boggle as it is great fun - my 9 year old son enjoys playing it too - which I am pleased about as it is educational at the same time as being fun for him.
The game is really suitable for anybody child through to adult that can spell - even very young children who are just learning to spell will enjoy this as they can start off with 3 letter words.
~*~ SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ~*~
Before you rush out and buy this I better tell you the system requirements so that you can check its' compatibility with your computer.
To run Boggle you need to have the following:-
* Windows 95
* 486 DX MHz
* Super VGA Graphics Card
* 2 x CD Rom
* Sound Card (100% soundblaster compatible)
The game also requires Direct X to run but this is included on the CD Rom so you don't need to already have it installed.
Boggle is created by Hasbro Interactive Inc who can be contacted at Caswell Way, Newport, Gwent, NP9 0YH.
Alternatively you may wish to visit the Hasbro Website and this can be found at www.hasbro-interactive.com.
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