7LittleWords
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Daily iPhone App: 7 Little Words for Kids is a well-made word game for youngsters
I'm a big fan of 7 Little Words, a word game that's different from the rest, in that you need to simply figure out vocabulary clues and match up syllables rather than playing Scrabble yet again or lining up letters. Now, the app's creator has returned with a version for children called (surprise) 7 Little Words for Kids. As you'd imagine, the Kids' version is a bit more colorful and easier than the serene and challenging original, but it offers the same very addictive and rewarding gameplay of being given clues for just seven little words, and then assembling a collection of syllables up to form them. The Kids' app features a number of themed stages, colors up the characters a little bit and offers stars as a reward to open up different worlds, but none of these changes are annoying, and all of them should help the game appeal to children. Plus, I couldn't imagine a better-designed game for kids to play -- there are zero ads or in-app purchases in the app, which is very notable considering how successful Seven Little Words has been with IAP. The devs really went out of their way here to make sure this app was kid-friendly and parent-approved, and while I don't have kids of my own, this is one that I'd make sure was in their hands on a long car trip or plane ride. The one qualm I have with the app was that it wasn't formatted correctly on my iPhone 5's longer screen -- again, I'm not sure how you release an app these day without making sure it works on that display. But despite that small issue, 7 Little Words for Kids is a great app for just US$0.99, and a must-buy if you've got some young minds around looking to boost their vocabularies.
7 Little Words offers great fluffy fun but not enough content
Recently, developer Christopher York pinged me and asked me to take a look at his latest offering, 7 Little Words. He's the developer who brought us the well-designed Moxie 2 last year. Being a word-aholic, I was happy to take a peek at this new title. A freemium-styled game, 7 Little Words ropes you in with a sampler of 25 short word puzzles, which you can then upgrade to a paid set. The game play is simple but engaging. The app splits seven words into component letters. It's up to you to recombine those words using the clue list. "Four score" is EI + GH + TY, six letters long. Some of the clues are a bit pop-culture-y and over-thirties may be at an advantage for these. It's really easy to play in short spurts, and there are 25 free levels in total. The problem is that those levels go very quickly, and there's only a single premium upgrade set currently available for purchase, with more promised on the horizon. I really enjoyed 7 Little Words -- I just wish there were more of it available for in-app purchase today.
