Official Website: www.iconolexis.com
Reviewed by Cricket on 1/22/02
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First
Impressions:
The
Iconolexis site sounded interesting to a word/puzzle lover like
me. When you look at the game's name-- icon covers the visual aspect,
and lexis (word) means playing with letters. Seemed simple enough,
match words with pictures or pictures with words?
I was given the key to unlock the game by WomenGamers. The download
was fast and simple, although I did have trouble finding the zip
file on my C drive (probably my fault). With downloads being so
much faster on high speed, the source location tends to get by me
sometimes. It was a very fast download, well under a minute. I had
to stick a shortcut in my shortcuts folder since it didn't install
one for me on my programs list.
My first impression when visiting the site was that the game might
be by a Canadian designer (although that was not mentioned) because
it is available in English and French. It just had a Canadian feel
to it.
The front page of the game has simple graphics and icon characters
who are somewhat endearing. There is even a contest to design icon
characters currently running on the site. The game has simple graphics.
It can be played on a windows or mac platform. I read the help menu
and thought I had it figured out. Not even close.
Graphics:
The
graphics are basic and simple. There is little animation to distract
from the game itself. The game is flat, not at all dimensional,
which give the impression you are playing a board game or an earlier
DOS game. That appeals to me personally, since it can be quite
intense playing racing or FPS type games. The simplicity does
not distract from the real intent of the game, which is the intensity
of trying to solve the puzzle itself. The game is powered by Macromedia.
Sound/Music:
The
first thing I did was turn off the music. When one is playing
a game that requires such concentration, the music is distracting,
although that is a personal preference. I enjoy quiet gameplay
sometimes, preferring the sounds of the actual game without the
background music. I did listen to the music for a bit to get an
impression, it's quite innocuous and most people would find it
pleasant enough.
Gameplay:
Did
I mention I was not even close on the gameplay? No kidding. I
started at the novice level, confident that with my long practice
with puzzles and my love of word games I would do well. The game
is timed, although there is no set time limit. It's a personal
challenge to beat a previous score. Games can be saved and reloaded
if interrupted. On the site there is a section for high score,
which tends to be dominated by Canadians, since the game is new
and I guessed correctly, it is designed by a Canadian company.
The object of the game is to match an icon with a letter. There
is a row of icons is at the top of the puzzle. You can scroll
through them and drag them onto the board with your mouse. Icon
topics cover food, tools, flags, animals, or you may combine them
in groups such as animals and food. You can play in English or
French (typically Canadian!). You start with a letter, such as
a T and try to match it with an icon. Lets pretend we are playing
food and animals. You pick a tomato. You drag the picture to the
square beside the T. Now you can match the front or back letter,
T or O. You scroll through the icons looking for a match. Ocelot
happens to match at either end. Mind you, I couldn't tell and
ocelot from a leopard the first time I played (ocelots are smaller).
A marmot looks like a beaver. I didn't even know what a marmot
was until Iconolexis. If the icon matches, it tell you at the
bottom of the puzzle what the icon is. When you can find a match
and start dragging icons (flags were a tough category and matches
were difficult), it takes away from your time, but at least when
you get a match you may have learned something.
Once you have completed a puzzle it organizes another one in that
category for you or you may change categories. Games may be saved
or quit without saving.
I figured I would sail through the novice level and move up. At
the time of this writing I am still in novice, but improving.
Intermediate and Expert levels have more challenges, special squares
on the board that teleport, block etc. I might make intermediate
sometime this year.
Enjoyment:
The
first round was a bit disappointing and about halfway through
the first puzzle I was getting discouraged. I wasn't always sure
what an individual icon might be (for example, do you know what
the flag of Angola looks like?) and had to go back and read the
help menu to realize I could enable a feature that identified
icons. When the puzzle was complete and I clicked the final letter
(magic tile) though, I found myself getting interested. My score
was dreadful and I knew I could do better. About 10 games later
I called a halt for the day, having passed a pleasant few hours.
It's addicting.
This is a very challenging game. It combines visual and word finding
skills and is not as easy as it looks. I think that a child would
find it a bit complicated, however as a learning game it would
be an excellent vocabulary developer in two languages.
Multiplayer:
N/A
Overall
Impression:
While
this lacks the graphics of an action//RPG type of game, it is
a simple, inexpensive, challenging puzzle/word game that is a
pleasant distraction from more intense gameplay. It requires concentration
and skill builds as you play more rounds.
Marketing
Efforts Towards Women:
This
game would appeal to any age or gender. I think it would find
a home in any classroom at just about any level, since it is a
learning experience building vocabulary for little ones, and developing
skills in an older group. It would make a great family game.
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