Wordscapes: Rise and Fall From Grace

Ezra Wiener (’23) popular, why are so many kids spending their precious 45 minutes gifting them with in game hints. The clan also has a chat feature that allows you to have healthy and productive conversations with your clan mates. Another fun thing about clans is tournaments, which happen within the game every so often and allows individuals within the clan, and the entire clan itself, to compete against other players to see who can find the most words. The high school clan is currently called “Badboysinshiur” and is welcome to all high schoolers who want to join.

When given what looks like a random assortment of letters, such as “‘V’ ‘T’ ‘I’ ‘R’ ‘S’ ‘E’” the average person might brush it off as a bunch of nonsense, but to a CYHSBer it is an entire world of opportunities to spell a multitude of words. The CYHSB wasn’t always like this though. A few weeks ago, your average CYHSBer would have been just like everyone else, having no idea what to do with those letters. So what changed, what transformed the CYHSB into a school of word whizzes, and is it here to stay?

Last Week’s Solution

The answer to that first question can be found in the app store, completely for free, and that answer is Wordscapes. Wordscapes is a game that was released in 2017, but just recently became popular in the high school. The game is pretty simple, you are given a circle of randomly assorted letters that spell one big word, and all you have to do is swipe across the various letters to create words that then fit into a crossword format.

The game has experienced a huge surge in popularity in the CYHSB, with many kids playing it at every opportunity. Come to the CYHSB during lunch and you are likely to see a bunch of kids on their phones on what has been referred to by many as the “Wordscapes Grind,” which basically means playing the game a lot. So what makes this game so

The one thing that all successful mobile games have in common is simplicity, and this game is chalk full of it. All you have to do to play this game is spell words in a circle, and while these word puzzles are frequently very difficult, the actual gameplay is fairly simple and basic. The game’s difficulty is another factor in its success. The difficult world puzzles offer students opportunities to expand their vocabulary and challenge themselves, with the completion of a word puzzle being extremely satisfying, and the highlight of many student’s day.

The last major factor in the game’s success is a fairly new edition to the game, clans. Now any players who have the app can join together in a clan, and aid each other in their puzzles, primarily by

Now, this all sounds like a fire time, but will this Wordscapes flame burn for eternity, or will it become extinguished, and if it does, how soon? Well, the unfortunate answer to that question is that the latter option is likely correct, and the end of this Wordscapes fad may be closer than many had hoped. Many fads come and go, but Wordscapes has a few key features that may make its fall from grace arrive sooner than other fads similar to it.

One major problem with the game is the ads, which occur frequently and can be very inconvenient and annoying for players. One of the most frustrating feelings in the world is completing a puzzle and being on a roll, only to have that be interrupted by an ad that totally throws you off your game. Another problem with the game is the fact that it drains your phone battery with frightening speed, which is both extremely inconvenient and damaging for your battery.

The last major problem with the game can actually be found within the clan. The points in this game are referred to as “brilliance” and the more puzzles you complete, the more brilliance you get. Members of the clan are ranked by their brilliance, and this ranking system creates a lot of tension between members, creating a social hierarchy dependent on the amount of brilliance you have. Members with higher brilliance tend to express feelings of superiority over those with less brilliance, sometimes referring to them as “Brillialosers” or “Low Brilliance Betty’s.” Some clan members with higher brilliance even advocated to set a brilliance requirement to join the clan, not wanting the clan’s reputation to be tainted by those lacking in brilliance points.

Cooper Clicks

Overall, the game is very fun and allows students to expand their vocabularies and challenge themselves in new and exciting ways. While this game might be popular, it is already showing early signs of dwindling popularity, it is certainly making a big impression while it is here, with its legacy likely lasting a long time.