Mahjong games have never enjoyed the same success in the States they find in Asia, largely because they feature the use of Chinese characters, which adds a certain layer of complexity. Mobile League WordJong solves that problem by replacing the traditional mahjong pieces with Scrabble tiles. In fact, WordJong is essentially Scrabble in reverse...so you take pieces off the board instead of adding to the mess. Equipped with an ample dictionary and a cool ranking system, WordJong is a terrific little game in its own right.
In each of the game's puzzles, you'll be confronted with a number of letters, strategically piled on top of one another. Only unobstructed letters are usable, although letters uncovered midturn are fair game. The goal is to create up to seven-letter words with these tiles, thereby removing them from the board. Words of sufficient length also win you wild card squares, which can be used in place of any single letter you're lacking. These wild card squares really come in handy late in a puzzle, when all you've got left on the board is a bunch of vowels.
WordJong's greatest asset is its 50,000 word dictionary, which rarely disappoints. As a decent dictionary is the foundation of any word game, it's great that Digital Chocolate took this component seriously. It's safe to say that WordJong accepts almost all English words comprising one to seven letters. As you progress, you can submit your scores online in exchange for fortune cookies.
You can play WordJong alone, or you can play it with a buddy by swapping a single handset about. In the latter mode, the two of you compete on the same board. As with Scrabble, positioning yourself for big plays--while blocking out your opponent--is half the challenge. Whereas most hotseat multiplayer is essentially worthless, the mode actually works pretty well here. As a result, people might conceivably use it.
WordJong's interface is very clean-looking. Available tiles are shown in full light, while inaccessible tiles are shrouded in shadow, making them all the more enticing. Sound is minimal, which isn't a bad thing. You'll hear a congratulatory jingle every time you make a word, which is about all the game really needs.
Unfortunately, WordJong's cursor navigation isn't too slick. You can't adequately control the cursor with your phone's navigation pad, which is detrimental to gameplay, as you'll sometimes need to move diagonally. It's often unclear, as well, just when a piece is directly adjacent to another and when it's at a diagonal. This can lead to some unfortunate fumbling around.
Puzzle games have always been and will always be great on mobile. Mobile League WordJong lends itself to the sort of quick play that's pefect for the platform. If you like word games and own a Motorola V400, WordJong is one of the best games out there.
