In Roll-a-Word, you are given 6 letters each round and you have to make as many words as you can with them. The player is pitted against the AI opponent by representation of a ship sailing from one end to another, and every time you get a word correct, your ship moves closer to the finish line. The longer the word, the further your ship travels. Whoever’s ship reaches the finish line first wins the race. It’s a novel idea that creates a bit of tension by replacing traditional timers with an all-out sprint to the end against the AI.
If you are struggling, the game offers a choice of 3 special abilities that will help you sail to victory. However, you can only choose one for free, with the second one costing coins each round. You have a choice between getting the longest word not found, bombing the opponent’s ship to temporarily halt their progress or a golden letter that, when used, will boost your ship further than the normal amount.
In the single player mode, you are required to compete in tournaments in order to gain coins. However, these tournaments require a hefty amount to join, and you will quickly find that you have to replay past tournaments to get enough to take part in the next one. Coins are also used to upgrade your ship to move faster, and they too cost more than you make in a single tournament. This is a single upgrade that causes your ship to level up, and it is important that you do so as later levels feature faster moving opponents and a further distance to travel.
Split screen multiplayer is the real gem here. Two players are given identical letters on opposite sides of the device and their boats move forward together automatically in the middle of the screen. When a player gets a word right, it will cannon the opponent’s boat causing it to stop temporarily, just like in a pirate battle scene. There are no special abilities to use in multiplayer, so it is a true test of each player’s mental vocabulary. The first to win the race best out of 3 times will be the winner and gets to loot the metaphorical treasure, or simply gets to choose the next pirate movie during the next Movie Night.
Not everything is smooth sailing though, matey. Roll-A-Word’s advertisements are particularly annoying and intrusive with in-your-face full screen advertisements popping up after every round and every time you access the menu. The free version of the game is also only limited to the first 4 tournaments, forcing you to fork out some cash if you want to keep sailing in uncharted waters, or if you just want the ads to go away.
All in all, Roll-a-word is only so-so in terms of delivering what the customers want. With the deluge of word games out there, it is not difficult to find one with a similar gameplay. Personally, I would keep this game in my device for when I have a friend over who enjoys the head-to-head challenge, but stick to my other word games for casual single-player or turn-based fun.
