Bookworm

Bookworm is a very good alternative to some of the violent action games popular today. The goal is simple: spell words by linking letters found on the board. When you form a valid word, it will disappear and the letters above will go down. There are never empty spaces as new letters fill up the gaps on top of the board. The longer the word you form, the higher the score and the better off you will be. If all you can come up with are short words, then red tiles will appear. These red tiles are very undesirable as they burn up letters below them and will eventually burn up your board if they reach the bottom. You can get rid of them by using them to spell words. There are special tiles - green and gold - which give you more points. You can also get bonuses by forming the word that is shown on the lower left hand corner of the screen.

Bookworm is not very difficult as it is normally a turn-based game. This means you have all the time in the world to think of your next move. It is up to you whether you want to form words as fast as you can or to think long and hard to come up with the best possible combination. The important thing to bear in mind is to avoid the red tiles and getting rid of them so as not to let them reach the bottom.

After accumulating a certain number of points, you get promoted to different levels. It is quite geeky as you can progress to titles such as Senior Librarian. I would take that as a compliment though!

You can either play the online game or download a free time-limited trial version. You can play the online game as long as you want although this version has limited features. It also has interruptions as pop ups may come out from time to time.

If you get the full version, you have the option of playing either the turn-based classic mode or the speedy action mode. You also have more bonuses - gold, sapphire, and diamond! Another plus is that you can learn more with the on-screen definition of some not so common words.

So if you are in the market for a fun, relaxing, worthwhile game, Bookworm just might be what you are looking for.