WordBlock is free software (meaning you do not have to pay for using it). It is not (yet) open source. I'm still considering what the benefits woulds be there. WordBlock needs the .NET Compact Framework. If you own a PocketPC 2003 or higher, it is pre-installed. For a PocketPC 2002, you can download the framework from Microsoft. Older versions are unsupported, I'm afraid.
You can download an Installer file is ZIP format. To install on your PocketPC, run the Setup.exe while your PocketPC is connected through ActiveSync. The install can easily be undone again through ActiveSync. The software is only available in the English language, but the word lists used in the game can be a different language. I offer an English and a Dutch version for download. If you want to create a word list for your own language, check out the WordBlock: Modifying and Extending article. I would be happy to offer your translation for download as well.
Download the English version
Download the Dutch version
To download go here.
WordBlock is a simple, yet addictive word puzzle game. It is an adaption from a game that can be played with friends, using only a piece of paper. When playing WordBlock on your PocketPC, the computer will play the part of your friends.
Each player has a square grid-like board (you may choose the size between 4 and 6 cells in both height and width). The players take turns. At his turn, every player chooses a letter to be entered into a cell on the grid. All players must enter this same letter on their respective grids, but they may choose different locations.
| Off course, the number of points depends heavily on the word list that is used. The English wordlist in WordBlock was created from the standard Linux word list, which is free of copyright. If you don't like this list (because you think 'bloc' and 'lo' are not normal English words), you can modify it. Check out the separate article on how to modify and extend WordBlock. |
Players score points when the letters on their grid form words. a 2-letter word scores 2 points, a 3-letter word scores 3 etcetera... A word that fills an entire line earns double points. Words may overlap and letters may be used for multiple words. So a line filled with the letters 'block' will score 20 points:
| block |
10 (2x5) |
| bloc |
4 |
| lock |
4 |
| lo |
2 |
Both horizontal and vertical lines can score points. Diagonal lines cannot. The game ends when all grids are full. The player scoring most points wins.
Gameplay
When you start WordBlock on your PocketPC, you will see that the menu allows you to start a new game with a 4-, 5-, or 6-letter grid. When you start a game your screen will look like this
Your grid is empty and it is up to you to start by choosing the first letter. Select a letter from the little listbox in your avatars (an avatar is a small image representing a player) balloon. After selecting the letter, Tap the cell you want to letter to appear in. Directly after you choose your letters position, the other players will place the letter on their grids (which remain invisible to you untill the end of the game).
Then the next player will choose a letter. You will see the players avatar telling you the selected letter. It is up to you where you want to place this letter in your grid. Tap the cell of your choice.
The area directly beneath your grid will always show a list of the words that you have created till now. Each line and column will show the points scored in that line directly next to it. In the upper left corner of the screen, there is a small score board indicating the current score of all players.
Strategy
Each of the computer characters follows a different strategy. Some strategies are smarter than others. Some strategies work better on small boards, while others work best on the 6-letter board. You will find that it is far from easy to beat all characters, but you can practice by picking one of the characters and settle for beating only him.
Tips:
- Some letters are more common than others. No matter which words your opponents are trying to create, they are bound to need some E's and N's along the way. If you choose an E, it might well be usefull for them. If you don't choose the E, the chance is relatively high that one of the opponent will need it. So try to focus on the less common letters in your words.
- The point value of words can be very different, depending on how many smaller words they contain. Try to search for high-value words and stick by them.
- Do not be afraid to use part of your grid as 'trash'. You will not be able to use all of the letters anyway. Make one corner of your grid the waste-bin.
Have fun
There are a number of ways to extend and configure WordBlock. We will treat them here in order of technical complexity. We start with the easiest tasks and will end with the kind of extensions that require real programming skills.
Changing the dictionary
One of the most obvious things you may want to change is the dictionary used in the game. It can be frustrating playing against a computer that uses exotic and archaic words in the game or denying you points for words that are perfectly normal words. So you may want to add or remove words in the dictionary.
Another reason for changing the dictionary would be to allow you to play in your own language. WordBlock comes with an English and a Dutch (my mother tongue) dictionaries. If you own a large list of French words, it is very well possible to have WordBlock work in French.
When you are connected to your Pocket PC through ActiveSync, you can use Windows Explorer to view the files in the Finch installation directory. You will see that it contains files named words2.txt, words3.txt, up to words6.txt. Words2.txt contains all valid 2-letter words. You can copy the files to your desktop and open them with Notepad or your text-editor of choice. Every line contains one word. In the dictionary files that come with wordblock, the words are in alphabetical order, but this is not strictly necessary (it makes it easier to maintain though).
The file is encoded as UTF-8. Many text editors will recognize this automatically (Notepad on Win XP does). If the first line starts with 2 strange characters, your editor doesn't recognize the encoding. Use another editor.
You can add or remove lines as you like. Do not add 3-letter words to words4.txt though.
Capitals and accented characters
In the game, the player can only use the plain letters a to z. Only lower case. Some words may contain accented characters or should be spelled with a capital. The rule in the game is that a letter 'e' can be used in words in all accented and capitalized forms (e, é, è, ê, E, È, É, Ê, Ë, etcetera). In the word list, these words are presented twice on one line, first lowercase without any accents, then a space and then the form with casing and accents. This second form will show up in the list of formed words at the bottom of the screen. So if you want to add the word URL to the list, you add this line to the word list:
url URL
and if you want to create a Spanish version, you would have a line like this:
pena
but no line for the word 'peña', because it would double with 'pena'.
Changing the avatar images
Standard, WordBlock comes with 4 little icons to represent the players. The standard icons are based upon characters from Star Trek. Should you want to add your own icons, this is very well possible. Again, with the PPC connected to ActiveSync, you can copy your icons to the WordBlock application directory. Once you have added the images, you have to tell Wordblock to use them. Copy the config.xml file to your desktop and open it using a text editor. You will see a number of lines like this one:
By changing guy.gif into the name of your new image (and maybe changing "You" into another name, you are set. Just copy the xml file back to your device and start a new game.
Changing the number, playing order and strategies of the players
As you saw in the previous paragraph, config.xml contains the details on all players in the game, both AI players and the user. You can add extra players or play with less competitors. You can change the strategies of all players as you like. The interactive player (the user) should always use the PocketWordBlock.Strategy.UserStrategy strategy. You cannot have multiple players for the UserStrategy.
Of the built-in strategies, the strongest is the OptimizingLongWordStrategy. You will find that it is very hard to win from a set of computer-players that all use this strategy. If you configure, on the other hand, only players using SimpleLongWordsStrategy, you should be able to win. If that too turns out to be too difficult, there's also a built-in RandomStrategy. This strategy just picks random letters and puts them on random locations of the board.
Creating your own strategy
[to be done]
Actually, I do not really expect anyone to do this, but if you want to give it a try, mail me and I will be happy to explain all the details.