If you’re a fan of word games, then you should definitely try Word Whomp. It’s one of Pogo’s most popular word games!
Each round you’re faced with six innocent gophers, each helpfully holding up a letter. Click on the gopher or type the letter to “whomp” it down the gopher hole. It’ll pop back up in the background. This is how you spell words!
Now if you’ve noticed, near the top of the screen there are blank spots for words. Each word you find will fill one of those spots! (Note: Word Whomp only lists the most common English words, and does not count abbreviations or proper names.)
The word spots are arranged first by the number of letters in the word, and then alphabetically. The alphabetically part is really important! If you get stuck and can’t figure out what word is next, look at the gaps between what you’ve figured out. It’s a great clue!
Also, one of the word blanks is golden. If you find that word then you get 15 seconds added to the timer and 10 tokens added to your score!
At the end of the round you’ll get to see ALL of the words, so pay attention to whatever you missed!
Ewe…. Wee…. EWWIE!!!! :D
There are three difficulty levels, but the words don’t get any tougher. Oh no, it gets tougher in a different way. ^_^ On higher levels you have less time for each puzzle! But on the upside, the bonus for finding all of the words increases!
- Level 1 = 2 minutes 30 seconds. Last word bonus is 50 tokens.
- Level 2 = 2 minutes 15 seconds. Last word bonus is 75 tokens.
- Level 3 = 2 minutes. Last word bonus is 100 tokens.
It’s amazing what a difference those 15-30 seconds make. o_O
Your overall score also increases on harder levels, which in turn boosts how many tokens you’ll receive. Woohoo!!!
Tips & Tricks
Confession: I’m yoinking many of these tips from the Text Twist guide, because it’s basically the same game. *^_^* Don’t kill me!
1. Remember learning about suffixes in elementary school? They are VERY handy! Look for these combinations: -ly, -ed, -s, -es, and -y. Technically there are many more suffixes, but these are the most common ones for short words.
2. I often miss a lot of words that start with vowels. If you miss out on those too, just make a mental note to look for them.
3. Use the Mix Up button whenever you get stuck! You can click it or hit the spacebar, and all of the letters will shift around.
4. Look for compound words. For example, if you spell "peanut" you can also spell "pea" and "nut" as extra words.
5. There are no penalties for spelling a non-word! If you’re totally clueless just start stringing letters together. You might be stumble on a new word! (Today I learned that “bloc” is a word.” I had no clue!)
Final Rating
Word Whomp is cute, but I feel bad for the gophers. *^_^* How would you like to get whomped on the head every time someone wanted to spell a word! Tough job..
Anywho, I don’t get super-excited about word games, but I must admit that this one is well made and interesting. I rate it 4.5 stars out of 5.
What would you rate it? What level do you like to play? Better yet, do you have any tips for fellow wordsmiths?
Similar Games
If you like word games then you should try some of these out!
- Text Twist at IWON and Gamesville – A simplified version of Word Whomp. Perfect for gopher sympathizers!
- Seekado! at Club Bing – The ever-classic word search game, with a twist!
- Word Noodle at BugleGames – Connect letters in a HUGE puzzle grid to make as many words as you can.