Webster's Revenge is a game which challenges you to find words in an array of letters. Each game is a series of timed rounds during which both you and Webster search for words.
This Demonstration Release includes all of the capabilities of the Webster's Revenge product, except that the number of possible game boards has been limited. The full product release may be obtained from:
Loki Engineering, Inc.
55 Wheeler St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 576-0668
Game Play
The basic game display consists of a 4 by 4 grid of letters. Words are constructed by connecting the letters in the grid vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. To construct a word, move the mouse to the first letter and press the mouse button. While holding the button down, drag the mouse to successive letters. Each letter you select will be highlighted and the connections will be shown. Once you've completed a word, simply release the mouse button to record it. Grid letters may only be used once in each word and words must be at least three letters long. If you accidentally select an incorrect letter, simply back the mouse up to the previous letter and continue from there.
As words are selected, they appear in a window to the right of the grid. In addition, an hour glass is displayed showing the amount of time left and a beeper counts off the last five seconds at the end of each round.
Several controls are active during normal game play. The two arrow buttons may be clicked to rotate the grid for a different perspective on the letters. The "Undo Last" control may be used to remove the last word from your list if you've made an error. Finally, the "Pause" button may be used to stop the timer, and hide the grid, should you be interrupted.
Scoring
Your score is based on the length of words that you've found. Three letter words score one point and longer words score an additional point for each additional letter - four letter words count 2 points, five letters count 3 points, and so on. With this approach to scoring, long words are particularly valuable. You must be a little careful, however, since Webster subtracts points for any words which prove to be invalid.
Webster's Score
Webster creates a list of words in the grid at the same time that you do. As you play at more difficult levels, Webster's list will include more words and longer words. At the end of each round, Webster displays his list of words and the resulting score. If you click a word from Webster's list, it will be shown on the grid.
Word Validation
Each word you enter is compared against an extensive list of American English words and you're given credit for all words that appear in the dictionary. At the end of each round, your list is displayed (with duplicates removed) and a bullet flags each word found in the dictionary. Since there's some possibility that you'll find a word that isn't in Webster's dictionary, you can override Webster's decision on a word by positioning the mouse over the word and clicking.
Menus
Pull down menus are are used to select playing options and other Webster functions.
Play Menu
The Play menu provides the following options:
Help - What you see is what you get!
New Game - Zero the scores and start a new round.
Quit - Exit from Webster's Revenge
Level Menu
The Level menu allows you to choose the level that Webster will play. Each level has an end of game score associated with it, selected so that Webster will take 8 to 10 rounds to complete a game. The options are:
Beginner - 50
Intermediate - 150
Advanced - 250
Expert - 500
Webster's Revenge - 1000
The levels provide a competitive environment for a wide variety of playing skills; as you play more, you may find that you want to choose a more difficult level.
Time Menu
The Time menu allows you to choose the length of each round, from one to five minutes. Try playing at various time levels - a one minute game tends to be quite different from a three minute game. Note that Webster will find more words when given more time, so the time selections can also be used to "fine tune" the competition at a particular difficulty level.
Options Menu
The Options menu allows you to select various playing and display characteristics. When an option is selected, a check mark will be displayed next to the option listing.
Leading Word Credit
Webster gives you credit for any words that can be made from the letters at the beginning of words that you've located. Thus, if you've found "FARMS", Webster will give you credit for "FAR" and "FARM". Note that you will not receive credit for "ARM", since it appears in the middle of FARM rather than at the beginning.
Bad Word Penalty
This option causes your score to be reduced for any "words" that you find that turn out to be invalid.
Show Full List
This option can be selected at the end of a round to have Webster display the entire list of words that can be found in the grid and the score that would result if all of them were found. Selecting this item a second time reverts the display to the original list of Webster's words.
Demo Mode
The demo mode option causes Webster to play both sides of the game. Put your Mac in a window and entertain the neighborhood!
Comments and Suggestions
We welcome your comments and suggestions regarding Webster's Revenge. You may contact us at the address and telephone listed above or at ID 72247,2712 on CompuServe or at ID JDMorris on Delphi.
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