Triwordz is a Scrabble-like game that is not played with square tiles, but with triangular ones. Due to the shape of the tiles, I originally thought you could place words in three directions: one horizontal and two diagonal directions. But I was wrong, they can only be placed horizontally. So what is so special about Triwordz?
The special feature in Triwordz is that you don’t just place one word. You have to be on the lookout for words within words. For example: BEARDS. It contains the words:
- BE
- BEAR
- BEARD
- BEARDS
- EAR
- AR
You get points for every single word in your word. The points are counted per letter. For example, BEARDS will give you 22 points:
- BE (2)
- BEAR (4)
- BEARD (5)
- BEARDS (6)
- EAR (3)
- AR (2)
This Is How Triwordz Is Played:
Each player is given two random letters. You place one of these letters on the board per turn – anywhere you like. There’s only one limitation: As the tiles are triangular, you must use them in the proper orientation (either peak up or down). After you have placed your letter, you get your points. At the beginning of the game, it may of course be that you can’t create an entire word. For example, if you play a G, you’ll have zero points. If your opponent has an O, he could form the word GO and get two points. In the next round, you could expand that word, for example with a T: GOT. This makes five points (three for GOT and two for GO).
As you can see, one word in a word can be counted several times. Sometimes, you’ll find no opportunity to expand a word with your two letters. Then you simply have to put it somewhere on the board. Here you can start forming new words. You can also use that single letter to distract your opponent. Just put it at the end or beginning of a word that your opponent might expand. This way, you block a good move for him – but unfortunately also for yourself. At the end of each move, you get another random letter. Once all 88 tiles have been played, the game is over. The player with the most points wins.
Triwordz – The Game Review:
Of course, the idea of searching and finding words in words is great. It teaches your eye to find hooks – a skill that you also need as a Scrabble player. But compared to Scrabble, I missed the attraction of finding the best space to place a word and getting as many points as possible. In Triwordz, your possibilities are limited: You have only two letters. They only fit into the proper triangular space (except for the letters H, I, N, O, S, X, and Z, which can change their shape). As soon as you apply a letter to a word, a panel appears, showing you how many words – ergo how many points you get with this move. So it’s not that hard to find a good place for your letter. Triwordz is based on the ENABLE word list – a list that is also used for Words with Friends (find out more about the ENABLE word list in our article about “Words with Friends word list”).
There’s One Big Problem: Finding Opponents
After I installed the app, I had huge problems finding opponents. None of the requested random opponents agreed to play with me and I couldn’t connect the app with Facebook to play against Facebook friends. So I had to convince a friend to download Triwordz and play against me. To this very day, I can’t find a random opponent. I’ve read that other players have complained about this problem too. Perhaps the app is just not big enough yet and the players registered are not actively playing.
Conclusion
Triwordz is a nice game that teaches you to find hooks. Don’t try to play the game alone, or you will end up like me: looking for reasons why your smartphone is not compatible with the app. The app works, but I bet you won’t find random players.
It might be more exciting if you could choose to play it without the score panel, so you really have to find a good move on your own. For me a variation that actually uses the shape of the tiles and allows players to create diagonal words would be interesting.
Download Triwordz
Triwordz is available for free on the App Store and Amazon.