[b]simply puzzles: codewords[/b] is the first in a series of minimalist puzzle games, but as it often happens, minimalism went a bit too far and the game only barely reached a thumbs up status. I love this puzzle type (figure out which number corresponds to which letter to complete the crossword) and the game works for the most part, but so does a newspaper, which doesn't erase your progress in the current puzzle when you close it.
nor does the game anymore, as nearly half a year after release [b]mid-level saving finally got patched in[/b]. it just about got a pass initially for not doing this because recreating progress from a screenshot taken before quitting was a matter of clicking on however many letters you had in place, and being a word game, after about 8 or 10 letters figured out, the puzzle's often pretty much done anyway.
you can start by looking for double letters, -ing or -ed or -er endings, but plurals are also present, so words ending in -s are common too, and of course some letters appear more in the language than others, so you're unlikely to have more than a couple 'z', 'j' or 'k' letters per level, for instance, but plenty of 'e' or 'a'. [b]there is no timer, move or mistake limit, nor any penalties for guessing.[/b]
the game has [b]100 levels with no difficulty curve whatsoever[/b], the first one is just like the last, and luckily they're all unlocked from the start. if you click a cell, it'll highlight every other cell that has the same letter, and you can either click a letter on the left or type it, and if the letter is already present, the new one will be red. (this can only happen by typing, as clicking an already used letter does nothing.)
the [b]2 or 3 starting letters per level[/b] are easy to spot on the grid, but [b]nothing distinguishes them on the left[/b] and there are [b]a bunch of other issues[/b], like right clicking works to remove a letter from the grid (backspace or del can also be used), but doing the same on the left over the alphabet doesn't, both mouse buttons only place a letter, and the number boxes with letters aren't interactive at all. inconsistent and really annoying.
there is [b]no way to reset a level easily[/b], either clear every letter one by one or go back to the menu and select the level again, but returning from levels 51-100 loads the 1-50 level select screen as well, another annoyance that would probably take half a minute to fix. no 'back to menu' button on the level complete screen, though pressing the one that's part of the level itself still works, even if technically that's not the active window.
no volume settings, of course, just audio on/off, no windowed mode button either, and while alt+enter works, it's not elegant and switching resolutions changes the game back to full screen immediately. a counter in one of the corners on the level select screen showing how many levels you've completed would also be a trivial but welcome addition.
as I said, I love this puzzle type and 100 levels will keep you busy for a while, but [b]this adaptation is worse in some ways than the pen & paper version it's based on[/b]. small things, but they add up and make for a lesser experience, so [b]I can only recommend it on sale[/b], and I hope further entries in the series will be more polished.
