Word Drop

Game Description: Make as many words as you can from letters that drop. Progress through 6 challenging levels if you are fast enough.

Please Note: There are now two different Word Drop games here on Richard's Game Reviews. Though both games have certain similarities, they are actually very different games.

Select a Difficulty Level: You may select one of four difficulty levels at the start of the game from the main game screen. The four difficulty levels are:

• Beginner -- Letters drop the slowest and uniformily across all columns.
• Intermediate -- Letters drop faster and uniformily across all columns.
• Advanced -- Letters drop at the same speed as Beginner but randomly across columns.
• Supreme -- Letters drop at the same speed as Intermediate but randomly across columns.

How to Play Word Drop:

• Click the letter tiles to make words according to the rules for each level (see below).
• Tiles containing an asterisk (*) are "wild", and may be used for any letter.
• To accept a word, either press the 'Submit' button or press the 'Enter' key on your keyboard or click the last lettter in the word again.
• Only words in the Word Drop dictionary are acceptable (proper nouns are omitted).
• To clear a partial word, press the 'Clear' button. You may also click the last letter two times if you know a word is not spelled correctly and Word Drop will quickly let you know that the word is not acceptable.
• Clicking any tile in the word prior to the last will reset the letter selction to that point.
• The object of Word Drop is to score as high as possible by making words.
• If you find enough words (to fill the level meter completely from left to right), you will progress through six possible levels, each one getting more difficult.
• Letters continuously drop into each column and when a column is filled with letters, it will glow red. You then need to use letter(s) from that column before another letter is to be dropped on that column. If that happens, the game is over!

Word Drop Keyboard Options: It is not possible to play the entire game with just the keyboard because entering a letter does not identify which one you are targeting if there is more than one occurrence of that letter on the board. However, you may use the following keyboard shortcuts to speed up entry:

• 'Enter' will submit the word.
• 'Space bar' or the 'Delete' key will clear the current word.
• 'Backspace' will cancel the last letter clicked.
• The 'Down Arrow' key will drop tiles immediately. This can be useful in early levels.

Word Drop Level Rules: There are 6 levels, each with their own rules as to words you can make. The rules are displayed in the game at all times. Here are the rules:

• Level 1 -- Any letters may be selected and words can be 3-8 letters long.
• Level 2 -- Any letters may be selected and words can be 4-8 letters long.
• Level 3 -- Only letters from the same column or row may be selected and words can be 3-8 letters long.
• Level 4 -- Only adjacent letters (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) may be selected and words can be 3-8 letters long.
• Level 5 -- Only letters from the same column or row may be selected and words can be 4-8 letters long.
• Level 6 -- Only adjacent letters (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) may be selected and words can be 4-8 letters long.

Word Drop Scoring: Words are scored according to three factors:

• The frequency of the letter in the dictionary (similar to Scrabble) -- Letters such as J, Q, V, W, X, and Z appear in words less frequently and will score higher.
• The length of the word -- Longer words will give a much higher score.
• The current level -- An increasingly higher percentage is added to the word score for each level.

Word Drop Game Options:

• Click the 'Pause' button to pause the game. Then click it again, or click the 'Resume' button to continue.
• The game sounds, which are minimal anyway, may be turned on or off by clicking the microphone icon located at the lower right corner.

Word Drop Playing Tips:

• If this is your first time playing this particular version of Word Drop, first try playing at the Beginner difficulty. If you can make it through all six levels of the Beginner difficulty, then you may want to try some of the more difficult levels.
• Words of 5 letters, or more, will delay the speed of the next letter dropped proportionately. So, this is another advantage of spelling longer words when you can.

Richard's Rating: 4 out of 5.

Comments: As I previously mentioned in my review, there are now two versions of Word Drop here on Richard's Game Reviews. The other version of Word Drop, which you can check out here has always been the most popular word game I have on my site, and is almost always in my Popular Posts list. Although this Word Drop version is quite different, I think it has the potential to be just as successful as its popular namesake.