App Reviews

Chicktionary is an Eggcellent Word-Making Text Game

I have a thing for chickens. I admit it. Word games make me a little crazy, but chickens? I love them. Chicktionary has some room for improvement, but this is easily overlooked in the company of such darn cute cartoon chickens who cluck, flap their wings, toss feathers and make encouraging chicken noises as you play this iPhone game.

Chicktionary from Blockdot won “Best Word Game App” at the Best App Ever Awards Show, and I can see why. Like Text Twist or Word Warp, the object of Chicktionary is to make as many words as you can out of the seven letters, er, eggs. There are 300 levels, compared to 12 on Chicktionary Lite. You can strive for special eggchievements like Hot Wings (complete the puzzle in three minutes) or the Egg-cessive (play the game for 100 hours). You can also put your scores online and compare eggchievements with players around the world.

The only significant issue with Chicktionary is that the app does not let you see the words you missed. I find this frustrating, but, hey, I’m the girl who looks up answers to crossword puzzles after only five minutes. Having an answer key is critical to a sense of game completion. If I do not know the word “kismat” today, I am most likely not going to figure it out tomorrow. A couple of hints are available if you get stuck: Beak Sneak gives you a letter in each word, and Free Bird gives you one entire word.

The only other complaint I have heard from Chicktionary players is that they cannot turn off the sound on the game. If you do not like to hear a cluck every time you pick a letter, you will just have to lower the volume on your iPhone.

Blockdot will reportedly soon have an update for Chicktionary that will let you give up and see the words you missed. Once that update is available, I highly recommend Chicktionary.

• app_name: Chicktionary
• price: $1.99
• rating: 7/10