Anagrams by Hero Game Co LLC is advertised as a relaxing brain-teasing game with over 1400 word-solving problems. This is the kind of game that you initially think should be a quick timewaster you enjoy on mobile while on the train or something similar. But strangely, on PC, it works.
The game opens in a window, right off the bat it feels that Anagrams is supposed to be enjoyed throughout the day when you just need that break from the daily humdrum of work. Be careful though, it gets very addictive very quickly! The game has four game modes that you unlock by collecting ‘keys’ during playing the Classic Mode. The other three are Zen, Blitz and Free.
Anagrams Classic Mode
This is the main mode of the game. There are a wide range of categories, but most will be locked when you start playing. I started with Food and Drink. Firstly, you must fill up coloured meters by matching tiles that make letters. You do this by clicking and dragging the letter in any direction around it by one tile. Some tiles will have symbols on that unlock powers. These include things like reshuffling the board, unlocking locked tiles, resetting tiles with a countdown timer, and showing an available move you can make. Of course, by not using these abilities you can get extra points. Some tiles can also do different things like switch places without making a match, moving anywhere on the board where a match can be made and so on. You get used to these pretty quick and building up abilities for the challenging stages is worthwhile doing.
When you fill the meters, you get to the anagram itself, made up from the letters you’ve been matching. The word will relate to the category you’ve selected. On successful completion you’ll see your score and gain progress to gain a key. You can unlock other game modes or categories with these keys. Lastly, each category increases in difficulty the more stages you complete.
It’s all very basic but nicely put together with a very clean and simple UI. Tiles move smoothly and everything is pleasing on the eye as you play. I honestly lost a lot of hours matching tiles and solving anagrams without a single crash, glitch, or error.
Zen Mode in Anagrams
Zen Mode is all about relaxation. You can pick your favourite colours and play endless puzzles or solve anagrams with limitless hints. This mode is exactly what it says it is, and endless stream of the letter piece matching game or anagrams for you to relax to. This is implemented well, and you can quite easily endlessly play the matching game or give yourself something to think about with the anagram mode and before you realise it, hours have passed.
Blitz Mode
If you don’t feel like relaxing, then Anagrams also gives you a far more challenging mode. This is like the main game, in that the letter matching and anagram solving are the puzzles to be completed, but you’re against the clock.
Free Mode
If you want a bit more flexibility in your play, then Free Mode is the one for you. In Free Mode you pick the difficulty that you want to play at. This is especially fun if you want to practice for the difficult stages in Classic Mode or just want a bit more of a challenge in your puzzle-based gameplay.
Conclusion: Is Anagrams worthwhile?
Anagrams is an addictive puzzle game that focuses on matching symbols (letters) and then solving an anagram. If you like either of these, you’ll enjoy Anagrams. If you aren’t a fan, try it, it is bizarrely addictive to have going on when you work on other things at the same time. I can’t help but feel this should be a mobile game, however.
