Fruit Machine Chat

I can never remember how they spell their stupid name. Anyway, was playing yesterday and found two new word games. Quizmaster, look away now:

WORD: Somebody had mentioned to me that this game existed on a test ItBox, but have now played it. £1 play, £50 jackpot. Touch tiles with letters on to make words. The tiles seem to be piled up Mah-Jong-style (ish). Make longer words and you're rewarded with "Wild Tiles!" (I think), which basically act like a blank tile in Scrabble. Make even longer words and multiple points come into play. Verdict: interesting but confusing. I lost my first quid easily as I hadn't realised that you could touch non-contiguous tiles. But it seems to reward nice long words, which should please Istenem, and it also doesn't like nasty 'forin' words like VUM, VAV etc, which should also please Istenem.

FAMILY FORTUNES: ...but not as we know it. A category comes up ("name something you pluck"). You have to work out each answer as it comes, Hangman-style (E_EB_O_S). Make three wrong guesses on any one clue and you lose a life. Lose three lives and it's curtains. Get a certain points tally and you get a shot at Big Money (same deal). If you're greedy, and I am, you play on for more shots at Big Money. Verdict: another interesting one. I was indebted to my girlfriend for getting me through the "Keira Knightley films" section, but it seemed to play pretty fair. It would however be desperately difficult not to lose three lives on "name something children complain about" _ _ _ _ (life? work? peas?).

All things considered, with these two, Word Soup, Hex and Football Crazy, the IndeGo might be the best cabinet for word nerds.

I had a quick look at WORD on another ItBox and I have to say it found it mystifying. The beauty of Word Up is its simplicity but this one is like that multi-dimensional chess they used to play on Star Trek . The letter tiles are indeed laid out Mah Jong style but, as far as I could tell, this also means that you can use the letters that are revealed underneath ones you have already selected to then continue an existing word. The real word boffins might like this one but I think Joe Public will find it far too complex.

I liked WORD when I saw it, tho' I agree it can take a while to figure out exactly what is going on.

sounds like something to look out for. however, i can only think of two of these cabs, both of which are in very obvious locations.

i have played the family fortunes game in the sticks once and liked the game while it was on test. (simple interface, our survey said wah-waah, pretty enough etc.) but as GGDR notes, you are whistling in the wind if you expect any financial reward.

as for Word, haven't seen it yet but largely agree with NS in that WU/soup is unlikely to be bettered in terms of playability. will have to reserve judgement until i've played the thing but, if it is on a cab which also has soup for half the price, no mug is going to play an inferior game which costs him twice as much. good luck to it but, given how many other word games have come, tilted at the crown and been banished with a slice of humble pie, you'd not bet on it. might be a cheeky bonus if the £50 is gettable through skill alone but i don't think any of us is naif enough to expect that.

hex maniac will pay for a couple of pints and FC is relatively simple but there are so few of these cabinets (near me anyway) that any wins will be a smash & grab rather than a thriving sideline. good to see some new output from the developers.

I have had a couple of plays on family fortunes and felt completely exhausted after playing it. I dont care much for rushed gameplay.
I have played WORD as well but not sure if its a earner or not.

Bit disappointing that Crystal Maze isn't on there. I've seen it most of the other cabs??