Switchboard - Word Game app review: build your vocabulary and pit your skills against other players online

Introduction

What we have here is an interesting and very original concept for a word game which involves selecting letters from a game board to create words. This sounds simple enough but with surprises lurking after each move and a fun element of strategy, you’ll be hooked on Switchboard in no time at all!

In trying to get my head around the mechanics of this game, I’ve been having a lot of fun trying various words and annihilating my opponents on Game Center!

Switchboard features a beautifully simple concept which is delivered in a no-frills, no-nonsense fashion, and I really think the developer has done a great job of breathing new life into the genre of turn-based word games.

The Old Switcheroo

To put it as simply as possible, this is a two-player game which you can play either with a friend or random opponent via Game Center.

The basic premise is that you are presented with a grid full of letters, and you and your opponent must take turns to select combinations of the letters in order to create words and hopefully confound each other with your vocabularies.

Far from being just another Scrabble clone, Switchboard has an interesting feature which involves "locking" tiles by creating particularly impressive words. Doing so will lock the tiles as your own, and this adds a fantastic strategic element to the game because you’ll have to think a few steps ahead in order to lock useful letter combinations.

 

Lock and Load

As the game progresses, you’ll notice that certain tiles will have their letters changed, so you’ll need to be quick to adapt to the changing landscape as you try to remain one step ahead of your opponent.

By creating some great words and locking tiles you’ll begin to accumulate points, and the first person to reach 40 points is the winner.

What I love about this game is that the developer could have quite easily stopped at the basic outline of spelling words to score points, but instead, went the extra mile and added in these awesome extra features to make things more strategic.

Switchboard definitely receives a strong recommendation from me!

 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Original turn-based word game
• Strategic two-player action
• Game Center support
• Run games against multiple opponents simultaneously
• Nice simplistic design which allows you to get straight to your games

 

Cons

• There is nothing negative to say about this app

 

Final Words

I feel like I repeat myself a lot in my reviews but this definitely needs to be said: I love nothing more than to see innovation and creative flair in apps!

It doesn’t always go too well for some developers but in the case of Switchboard, I’d say the unique concept is definitely a winner.

Whether you’re a fan of word games or not, I’d definitely suggest checking out this game because it’s perfect for the casual gamer and is a nice way of expanding your vocabulary, plus it’s a ton of fun!