If you love word games, you’ll love Chicktionary. This cute game tests your word-building knowledge as you accumulate points based on the number of words guessed and the difficulty of building seven-letter words. The object of the game is to spell out as many words as possible with the seven letters you’re given. It’s like Scrabble on steroids; where speed is the name of the game.
Chicktionary, sponsored by Bing, is one of a new breed of “Advergames” that are popping up like crazy. Companies are looking for new ways to “crack” the market. Let’s face it, the belief now is if you don’t have an app, you’ll be left with “egg on your face.” And this seems like an “eggcellent” way to keep the company’s name on the minds of the app purchasers. Microsoft, which is still struggling to find a niche in the mobile market, is getting back to its roots with software; at least for now. Microsoft is clever in that it offers Chicktionary free if you also download the Bing app; at least for now. The two actually work together quite nicely because when you’ve successfully loaded a word, you can click on it to get the meaning, which then opens Bing.
Each game starts with approximately 30 words that you need to find. With only seven letters to choose from, that can be a daunting task, especially when you’re under the gun. Chicktionary offers two modes of play. The first is Quick Play, where you have three minutes to find all of your words. The second is Traditional. In this game, you can win either a white, red or blue ribbon, based on how many words you believe you can find in two minutes. Once that’s done, you can take your time to find all of the words. This is the game you’ll want to play if you want your name on the leader board, which is filled with chicken-themed nicknamed users. Along the way, you get a chance to win more than 40 Eggchievements. Just ask “Nick ‘Extra-Crispy’ N.” if he likes to play. Yeah, that’s me. I admit it, I was addicted long before I was asked to review this game.
