Kwazi’s kingdom is under attack by 3 ferocious and merciless dragons in Mahjong Quest. Help Kwazi bring normalcy back to his homeland through 12 different locations with help from spirit guides and special tiles. This mahjong Mac game has more twists and turns to the basic play and will bring pleasure and excitement to occupy your time.

The basic game starts by clicking on 2 matching tiles. You continue to do this until the game board is cleared. If you are stuck, you can utilize the hints located at the bottom of the screen. If there are no more matches to be made and the board is not cleared, you must undo tiles or start over. There are 3 modes in this game. The Classic, Kwazi’s Quest and Puzzle modes all have 5 different play options. The Classic mode has 80 classic styles. Within the Classic mode is the Classic option using the standard rules. The Speed is when all visible tiles can be immediately matched and done so quickly. The Scramble is when the tiles randomly move or when you take too long to make a match. This is a fun choice to play. The Memory tiles are completely blank and the face of the tile will appear only when the cursor hovers over them, but take care because once you click on them the tile face disappears. The Ghost play will make the tile visible but will slowly fade out. Quite a challenge, won’t you say?

Playing Kwazi’s Quest mode will give you more of a storyline while playing mahjong. The simple characters and artwork, although well done, is a contrast to the beautiful Chinese background of landscape (farmlands, rivers, mountains and pagodas). It is your job to play the puzzles and continue on the many levels to save Kwazi’s land. The third mode is the Puzzles. The layouts are untraditional patterns and surprisingly challenging.

I found Mahjong Quest very relaxing with the Chinese type string instrument music and fun to play. I also enjoyed the different twists to this game such as the blank, shuffling and new patterns. The blank tiles are more than a challenge since you must look at Chinese characters to remember. The story of little Kwazi and the evil dragons is an amusing tale and did not distract from the play.

Features of Mahjong Quest:
-Fun Storyline
-Hundreds of Different Layouts
-3 Modes

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Anyone who loves Scrabble (and who doesn’t?) will enjoy Bookworm Deluxe, a Mac game for all the lexicon gurus out there. For a word game there is a lot of action involved in playing this puzzle. So be ready to put your thinking caps on and go for an enjoyable couple of hours, because it will draw you into their mind bending brain exercises.

Lex, the green bookworm, at the sidebar, greets and instructs you at the beginning of this game, throughout the play he makes encouraging comments, and he warns you of the eminent danger waiting ahead of you. There are Scrabble-like tiles in 7 columns with either 7 or 8 pieces in each one. The columns are staggered so one tile can touch part of 4 tiles on the sides and 1 above and 1 below. At the most there are 6 directions to make a word. The letter tiles on the sides and top and bottom of the game board have less options.

The object of the game is to make the longest word possible by using the tiles that touch either up, down, and to the side. You link the tiles by clicking on each one to create a word. You can either click submit on the sidebar or double click on the last tile to present the word to Lex. If accepted, he opens his mouth and munches on the tiles. The replacement tiles will drop from the top to refill the 52 tile board. If Lex feels your words are too small, he’ll refill a letter with a fire tile. The fire tiles will be glowing and crackling like it is on fire. If you do not use this tile right away, it will burn through the letter below it for each word made. If this fire tile reaches the bottom of the game board, it will burn the entire library and ending the game. The funniest part of this disaster is Lex’s stunned, incredulous expression. It’s worth playing this game just for that scene.

Like Scrabble each letter tile has a different point value. The dots or lack of one located at the lower right hand side of the tile will show that J, Qu, X, V, and Z will earn you more points. Some words will produce the dictionary definition on the sidebar. However, with concentrating on producing new words, you tend to ignore reading the definitions you already know. The color tiles will get you higher points, and so will the bonus word given by Lex. You need to strategize a little to maneuver letters around to be able to make the bonus word. This will garner you more points toward getting to the next level or rank. You will be amused by the different cartoon characters you are labeled as when you complete each level.

When you are stuck and can no longer create a word, you can click on Lex the bookworm to scramble the letters. However, use caution with this move because it will create fire tiles to hinder your play.

Bookworm Deluxe has 2 modes to play, the untimed and Action games. The untimed is still challenging but it is nothing compared to Action. Action is just that. There are more fire tiles and they move down the column much faster and are animated or seem like they are constantly in motion.

Bookworm Deluxe reminds me of the Mac game Flip Words but is a lot more difficult and fun. Lex is entertaining and supportive of your play, the fire tiles add a challenge that enhances your game, the graphics are brightly colored and clear, and the sound effects are perfect even the burping from Lex. This game is for everyone, it will sharpen your word forming skills, and strengthen your mind. On top of all that, it is just plain fun. Try not to get burned.

Features of Bookworm Deluxe:
-Untimed or Action
-Bonus Words
-Burning Tiles
-Reward Tiles
-Lex, the Bookworm
-Hall of Fame

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars