There is a
far off island called Pogo.com. It is a place of adventure, of triumph, and of
a few too many clones. Underneath the rubble were games like Word Whomp, a
word scrambler that challenges you to form a given number of words, and
Tri-Peaks Solitaire, a newer take on a classic card game that’s three times
the fun.
Wouldn’t it
be great if islands could be shrunk into one tiny, Nintendo DS-sized game
card? Jack, Kate, and Sawyer may not like the idea of being extra small, but
it’s unlikely that a Web game is going to complain. (Though you never know, so
keep your lawyers handy just incase.) If such a feat could be reached, the
conclusion would be a game called Pogo Island. It’d be a compilation of
Pogo.com’s best offerings. Each game would be of the highest quality,
containing more challenging goodness than any other version available.
Dreams do
come true on occasion. But while Pogo Island fulfills the wish of a Pogo.com
collection, it does not contain the best of what the Web site has to offer.
Game 1 –
Word Whomp
Six letters
are given: N-O-B-R-O-C. Seven three-letter words are to be formed out of the
jumble, along with two four-letter words, one five-letter word, and one
six-letter word. “Corn” and “born” were easy finds. “Con,” “croon,” and “rob”
weren’t too difficult either. But my mind went blank after that.
I hit the
mix up button to change the letter formation to N-O-B-O-R-C, then O-B-O-R-N-C.
It still wasn’t making any sense. There’s an obvious three-letter word in
there: orb. For whatever the reason, I did not see it. That word only appeared
on screen after I tapped the hint button. It’s helpful, but hints come at a
price: six seconds are shaved off the time limit for every hint received. One
hint = one letter.
The time
quickly ran out, revealing the six-letter secret: bronco. The word was right
under my nose the entire time! Previous experiences should’ve made this one an
easy score. (My uncle collects Ford Broncos; I thoroughly enjoyed the white
bronco chase scene in Shrek 2, etc.) But it’s those moments of disbelief in
defeat that turn Word Whomp into a fun word game.
Word
Whomp in action.
Other than
what you already know, there isn’t much to say about Word Whomp. The touch
screen was programmed well for this game, ensuring that the gameplay stays
simple and mainstream-approved.
There is one
point of concern though: this version is not as intelligent as the PC edition.
Word Whomp can be played online for free, but there is a more advanced PC
version for sale. That one contains more than 10,000 puzzles. Its dictionary
isn’t perfect but it is pretty big. However, you will find words that appear
in the PC edition that do not appear here, but not vice versa. You will
be stumped as words as simple as “rile” are, as the game likes to remind you,
“Not in our dictionary!”
Also, would
it have been so wrong for the game to acknowledge a few game-oriented words? I
couldn’t believe that “poly” was not in its dictionary. That was a word long
before video games came around.
Casual
gamers are going to be very frustrated by this aspect of the game. I know this
for certain because I allowed a friend (who is a casual gamer that loves Word
Whomp) to try this version. “I don’t like that I can’t enter the same words as
the PC game,” she said. “It’s confusing.”
Poppit!
Game 2 –
Poppit!
Poppit! is
an interesting, 8×13 playing field of balloons. When two or more of the
same-colored balloons are touching each other, touch one of those balloons to
pop the linked cluster. Do this repeatedly until all balloons have been
eliminated.
In any
normal circumstance, this would have "easy" written all over it. But Poppit!
isn’t normal. As balloons are eliminated, the remaining helium-holders gather
together. You can’t create a chain reaction, but it is possible to set up a
pop that will lead to other elimination opportunities.
In your
quest to get the biggest pop, you might wind up with a few stray balloons —
one blue, one yellow, one purple, etc. If there are no other blue, yellow, or
purple balloons in the game, there is no way that the stray balloons can be
popped. And even if there are other matching balloons available, you have to
make two or more touch before they can be popped.
Fish
are puzzle pieces in Squelchies
Game 3 –
Squelchies
Six rows of
fish appear on the top screen and are pushed down to the bottom screen as
additional fish are added to the game. It looks like any basic puzzler but has
a unique control element. Instead of pushing or stacking fish as you’d expect,
players align the sea creatures by touching the bottom screen. Fish are then
thrust to the point of your stylus. Lift the stylus to release the fish, which
will float to the top of whichever row they are closest to. Connect three or
more fish of the same color to make them disappear.
Solitaire at its
best.
Game 4 –
Tri-Peaks Solitaire
Ten cards in
front with three pyramids of six cards in back. Tap the cards to match them up
with the appropriate hand.
A
puzzler at its worst.
Game 5 –
Phlinx
A boring
knock-off of Bust-a-Move with a pirate theme. Nothing more worth saying.
Board
Games and Tokens
You’ll earn
Pogo.com tokens for every successful win. I don’t use them, but for those who
do this isn’t a bad way to earn a few extra.
Since the
game is called Pogo Island and not simply Pogo.com Collection, EA
included a board game feature that lets you spin a wheel (using a stylus),
move across a 2D board, and play the designated game. There isn’t any purpose
of this feature other than to give you a different way to play the five
included games (which can also be accessed at any time via the Quick Play
option).
Though it
probably goes without saying, Pogo Island doesn’t deliver the Pogo.com
experience I was hoping for. It’s a solid collection that is all but killed by
low-quality versions of each game.
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Gameplay: 5.9
Solitaire, a word
scrambler, a balloon popper, a Bust-a-Move knock-off, and a drag-‘n-pull
puzzler all rolled into one. The results are not what they could’ve been. Pogo
Island’s version of Word Whomp is much less expansive than the PC edition,
which can be purchased in a three-pack with Phlinx and Poppit! for $20. Word
Whomp may also be purchased solo for $10. I wasn’t expecting Pogo Island to be
a revolutionary product. But each of these games can be played online for
free. Why shouldn’t this version – which must be purchased – be several times
better?
Graphics:
4.0
Generic Web game
imagery.
Sound: 4.0
Generic Web game
sounds. (Oh no…a pattern!)
Difficulty: Easy
None of the five
games are very challenging, but you can increase the difficulty and keep your
fingers crossed.
Concept: 7.3
Compilations
barely classify as a concept. Pogo Island tries to offer a little bit more in
the form of a board game layout. Spin a wheel, move the specified number of
spaces, and play whichever game you land on.
Multiplayer: 5.0
Single-card
download for demo play, but you’ll need two game cards for multiplayer.
Overall: 5.9
Diehard Pogo.com
fans will love having five of the site’s top games in one DS collection.
They’ll love its portability, its accurate touch-screen features, and they’re
likely to enjoy the board game portion. But the love and enjoyment ends there.
At the very least, Pogo Island should be PC-perfect. In other words, equal to
the quality of the version you buy for PC. Word Whomp was the primary reason I
wanted this game, and it’s disappointing to see puzzles repeat themselves.
It’s also disappointing to see the game say, “That word is not in our
dictionary,” when the PC version finds it every time. These are things to
remember before making a purchase.
