I have a real treat today for fans of word games. It’s Textropolis ($2.99, iPhone/iPod Touch), and it’s by far my favorite word game on the iPhone. It’s a simple and beautifully designed game, and boy is it addictive — I’d rather be playing it right now, rather than writing this review.
Textropolis is an anagramming game. It gives you the name of a city (starting with Kingstown) and you have to build words using the letters from that city’s name — for example, KING, TOWN, KNOT, STOW, and so on. Words must be four letters or longer, and plurals do count as new words. For each word you enter, you get points, your city’s population grows, and a plane flies by showing the word’s definition (nice!). As you gain points, a cartoonish city grows in the background, showing your progress visually. Also, progress within each city unlocks the next city, so you can continue to move on and make more words.
What makes Textropolis so great is that it’s simple and beautiful. It’s all about the words, and the interface is clean and well-designed. Because you get instant feedback on each word (including the definition), the game leads you along, encouraging you to make more and more words…and your progress is fast enough that unlocking new cities becomes addictive. “Just one more word, then I swear I’m done!” Here’s a video showing Textropolis in action (note that they’ve sped up the action to show you more of the game…in practice, I don’t play nearly this fast!):
For all you word nerds, I strongly recommend Textropolis ($2.99). If you don’t want to drop three bucks, try Textropolis Lite (free), which is limited to just three cities.
Got a favorite iPhone game? Let us know in the comments! (I’m particularly looking for new word games to distract me from this one….)
Comments (21)
Comment
- subscribe /
- give a gift /
- terms of service /
- about /
- contact us /
- write for us /
- ad info /
- subscriber services /
- press /
- privacy policy /
- rss /
© 2012 Mental Floss Inc. All Rights Reserved. Mental Floss is a registered trademark owned by Felix Dennis. mentalfloss.com is a trademark owned by Felix Dennis.
Disclaimer: All submissions made to mental_floss become the property of Mental Floss Inc and may be used without further permission by the submitter and without compensation to the submitter. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not submit anything to mental_floss.
Are you guys getting paid to pimp out iPhone apps?
posted by Troy Lee Wells on 2-18-2009 at 10:49 am
@ Troy: Thank you for saying it first (well, the first that I’ve seen, anyway). I really like Chris’ documentary columns, but the App reports make my skin crawl for some reason.
posted by Diana on 2-18-2009 at 12:05 pm
@Troy and Diana — yeah, I agree.
posted by Jenna on 2-18-2009 at 12:17 pm
Hi folks – I’m really sorry to hear that you don’t like these iPhone app reviews. No, I don’t get paid to “pimp” iPhone apps. I thought our readers would like to hear about some of the flossiest iPhone apps out there. Clearly I was wrong. :)
posted by Chris Higgins on 2-18-2009 at 12:24 pm
Tough crowd! Chris, I appreciate the reviews. Maybe I’m the only one. Keep em coming!
(I find it much harder to tolerate the whiny comments. “Skin crawl”? Really?)
posted by Johnny on 2-18-2009 at 12:28 pm
@Chris — maybe if it didn’t cater solely to the iPhone crowd? I wouldn’t mind hearing about web-based games or programs that are similar. Or perhaps throw in some reviews for other phones, like Blackberry or Sidekick?
posted by Jenna on 2-18-2009 at 12:37 pm
Don’t get me wrong, I have an iPhone and welcome a heads up on cool apps…I just think it is a narrow scope for this blog.
I can go to a million different sites for app reviews.
posted by Troy Lee Wells on 2-18-2009 at 12:58 pm
I don’t care either way. I don’t have an iPhone, or a blackberry, or a sidekick. I must be a boring phone person!
But I do love Mental Floss!
posted by Jaime on 2-18-2009 at 1:08 pm
Too many reviews can get annoying, but I was glad to read this one. I don’t want to load my iPhone down with too many apps, but the lexicality of this one does have appeal. So, thanks!
posted by DB on 2-18-2009 at 1:18 pm
Thank you (sincerely) for all the feedback, everybody…I think what I’ll do is talk to the other m_f bloggers and see what other platforms they use (Blackberries and so on).
What would you all think about just a general (non iPhone) game review — assuming we could find flossy, nerdy games?
posted by Chris Higgins on 2-18-2009 at 1:34 pm
I appreciate the iPhone application reviews and believe they are flossy. I hadn’t even been reading them as reviews so much as an iPhone user excited about a new application he found sharing his experience.
There are many posts that do not pertain or entertain every reader on this blog. I have never read any blog where every entry was of interest to me. However, that doesn’t seem like such an indignity that it requires readers to insult the blogger and accuse him of shilling. There have been multiple posts on the Oscars and the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Is Mental Floss also pimping for them?
posted by AK on 2-18-2009 at 1:42 pm
I hope I didn’t sound too negative on my post – I love Chris’ other posts. I had never commented on my dislike because of course I can ignore it. I think I was just happy to find that I was not alone in my dislike :)
posted by Diana on 2-18-2009 at 5:20 pm
Re: What would you all think about just a general (non iPhone) game review — assuming we could find flossy, nerdy games?
Oh… are you sure you really want to do that? Seems like a possible case of trying to please everybody and ending up pleasing nobody.
I think the main complaint from people isn’t that you’re reviewing iPhone apps… it the fact that the preponderance of iPhone app reviews on the site gives the false impression that mental_floss has an agenda to push Apple product. I know this isn’t the case… the fact is that Chris Higgins has an iPhone and like to blog about apps he thinks are flossy (I’ve already apologized to Chris for saying bad things to him about apple in an earlier blog post). No hidden agenda.
Re: I think what I’ll do is talk to the other m_f bloggers and see what other platforms they use (Blackberries and so on).
I think this is a better idea. If some of your other bloggers use other platforms like blackberry, Android, wm6, etc., you could get some feedback from them about flossy apps they use. Better than researching apps on platforms you don’t use and can’t test. Besides, do you really want to review and test a bunch of apps?
Alternately, you could make a one shot request from readers about apps from different platforms they think are flossy… but that sounds like a pain too now that I’ve typed it out.
Oh well… that’s my two cents.
posted by Jason! on 2-18-2009 at 5:39 pm
@Jason – good points, all. Hrmm. All of the options do sound like kind of a pain, honestly. :) Maybe I’ll just go find some more science videos!
posted by Chris Higgins on 2-18-2009 at 5:41 pm
@Johnny – since you asked:
I think the problem for me is having the price included so prominently in the article (and mentioned twice!). If this is an advertisement disguised as a blog entry, then yes, it makes my skin crawl. No apologies about that.
To his credit, the author mentions a free version.
posted by Diana on 2-18-2009 at 5:50 pm
A few things were posted while I was composing that last email (I felt the need to defend myself against the “whiny” charge:) So sorry to beat a dead horse.
I think we’re all agreed that we like Chris :) Let that be our common bond.
posted by Diana on 2-18-2009 at 5:53 pm
Re: Maybe I’ll just go find some more science videos!
Yes please! Nearly all the posts in the Science catagory have your name on them. It’s my favorite catagory.
Did you know that CNN cut their entire Science reporting team last December? Horrible! I think your posting interesting science stories makes you a bastion of… um… science reporting. Yeah. So please keep it up!
posted by Jason! on 2-18-2009 at 6:10 pm
I love the iPhone apps reviews. I don’t have an iPhone yet, but enjoying seeing all of the different apps available, and if it’s interesting enough I put it on my iTunes, waiting for the day that I get one! I also like seeing how much they cost. It’s nice to know if it’s worth my time to look up on iTunes or not. In fact every iPhone app review I have seen (other sites included) have posted the price. It has never seemed like an advertisement to me!
posted by Carley on 2-18-2009 at 6:54 pm
I love the app reviews and am downloading Textropolis Lite as I type. If there’s a blogger who wants to blog about Blackberry apps or whatever, I’m sure that’s an option! I think that we bloggers tend to write about what we like the best, and Chris likes the iPhone. I know my pop culture-y posts probably aren’t for everyone, but that’s OK, because apparently some of you like them! And I feel like it’s the same with the iPhone app reviews. Some people will like them, some people won’t… if you don’t like it, skip on to another post. That’s why we have such a variety of bloggers… there’s bound to be something for everyone. I’m babbling now, so I’m just going to stop.
posted by stacy on 2-18-2009 at 10:23 pm
I’ve gotta say, I too would love to see some app reviews for Blackberries and other phones. Not everyone’s got an iPhone.
posted by JLaLa on 4-8-2009 at 3:08 am
I’ve been enjoying the word game Lingua for the iPhone.
It keeps me entertained on my bus ride to work and I love the sounds and graphics
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lingua/id368457115?mt=8
posted by Lary L on 4-30-2010 at 10:53 pm