| TypeShift | |
|---|---|
 App cover | |
| Developer(s) | Zach Gage |
| Publisher(s) | Zach Gage Noodlecake Studios (Android) |
| Platform(s) | Browser iOS Android |
| Release | Browser, iOS March 18, 2017 Android December 20, 2017 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
TypeShift is a word puzzle video game developed by Zach Gage.
TypeShift is a word puzzle video game in which the player must spell out words by sliding letters in columns [1] (by sliding the columns up and down). When a player makes a word, the letters in the word turn green. The player's goal is to have all the letters on the stage be turned green. [2] There are also "key" words, which if found by the player, allow them to quickly solve a puzzle. [3]
The game also includes "clue" stages in addition to the standard stages. [4] In a clue stage, the player is presented with clues (like a crossword puzzle) as well as the columns of letters. The player solves a clue by tapping on the clue and if they are correct, the clue will disappear. [5]
TypeShift was developed by Zach Gage. The game was released for iOS devices on March 18, 2017. A web browser version was also released and hosted by Merriam-Webster but no longer appears to be available as of October 2021. [1] An Android port, produced by Noodlecake Studios, was released on December 20, 2017.
In 2023, TypeShift is integrated within the games portal Puzzmo, developed by Gage and Orta Therox, as a daily puzzle. [6]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 86/100 [7] |
TypeShift received "generally favorable" reviews from professional critics according to review aggregator website Metacritic, receiving a score of 86 out of 100. [7] Gamezebo rated the game 4 out of 5 stars, praising the game's "substantial challenge without feeling impossible", that the game lets the player "learn new words and expand your vocabulary" and that it is "easy to make the ads disappear" while criticizing the limited number of puzzles available and that "the ads are a poor match for a beautiful game". [8] TouchArcade rated the game 4 out of 5 stars calling it an "attractive game with an enjoyable primary mechanic" but criticizing the game giving away the "key words" after solving a puzzle. [3]
The -gry puzzle is a popular word puzzle that asks for the third English word that ends with the letters -gry other than angry and hungry. Specific wording varies substantially, but the puzzle has no clear answer, as there are no other common English words that end in -gry. Interpretations of the puzzle suggest it is either an answerless hoax; a trick question; a sincere question asking for an obscure word; or a corruption of a more straightforward puzzle, which may have asked for words containing gry. Of these, countless trick question variants and obscure English words have been proposed. The lack of a conclusive answer has ensured the enduring popularity of the puzzle, and it has become one of the most frequently asked word puzzles.
Word games are spoken, board, card or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties.
A crossword is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of clues. Each white square is typically filled with one letter, while the black squares are used to separate entries. The first white square in each entry is typically numbered to correspond to its clue.
Boggle is a word game in which players try to find as many words as they can from a grid of lettered dice, within a set time limit. It was invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers.
Jumble is a word puzzle with a clue, a drawing illustrating the clue, and a set of words, each of which is “jumbled” by scrambling its letters. A solver reconstructs the words, and then arranges letters at marked positions in the words to spell the answer phrase to the clue. The clue, and sometimes the illustration, provide hints about the answer phrase, which frequently uses a homophone or pun.
At The Carnival is a puzzle video game by Cliff Johnson published in 1989 by Miles Computing.
Games World of Puzzles is an American games and puzzle magazine. Originally the merger of two other puzzle magazines spun off from its parent publication Games magazine in the early 1990s, Games World of Puzzles was reunited with Games in October 2014.
BrainTeaser was a British game show based on the original Dutch format of Puzzeltijd. The show was broadcast live, with phone-in viewer puzzles being announced and played during the show in addition to the studio game. During its run from 5 August 2002 to 7 March 2007, it aired on Five Mondays to Fridays, usually for an hour around lunchtime, and was fronted by various presenters rotating with one another. Beginning in August 2005, a version of the show that exclusively focused on viewer participation was broadcast in a four-hour long block on YooPlay TV every day after the Five broadcast, as part of a thirteen-week trial.
Popeye no Eigo Asobi is a 1983 edutainment platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer. The game was based on the comic strip of same name created by E. C. Segar and licensed from King Features Entertainment. It is a spin-off of the Popeye arcade game made by Nintendo. It was released exclusively in Japan. It was followed by the similar Donkey Kong Jr. Math, which was released about one month later. This game was never released in North America because of the majority of English speakers in the United States and Canada and a corresponding version that would teach players Japanese was not created due to the technical limitations of the Nintendo Entertainment System along with the lack of popularity in the West to learn Japanese aside from cultural or business purposes in the 1980s.
The New York Times crossword puzzle is a daily American-style crossword puzzle published in The New York Times, online on the newspaper's website, syndicated to more than 300 other newspapers and journals, and on mobile apps.
Spellbound! is an educational computer game made and distributed by The Learning Company aimed at teaching spelling, vocabulary, and language development to children ages 7 to 12 years. The objective of the game is to play spelling-related games to qualify and compete for successively higher bracket spelling bees, concluding with the player competing in the national spelling bee. The original game, released in 1991, was compatible with computers running DOS 3.3 or higher. A 1993 CD release added spoken dialogue and was compatible with Windows 95 and Macintosh.
Camouflage is a television game show that aired on Game Show Network. Hosted by Roger Lodge, and billed as "the hidden word game where the answer is always right in front of you", Camouflage originally aired for 40 episodes from July 2 to 27, 2007. The show is a word game, with contestants searching for a hidden word or phrase in a string of jumbled letters. The show is produced by Enjoy the Ride Productions in association with McB Entertainment.
Dream Chronicles is a 2007 adventure, hidden object, and puzzle casual game developed by KatGames and published by PlayFirst. It is the first installment in the series.
Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze is a 2008 adventure, hidden object, and puzzle casual game developed by KatGames and originally published by PlayFirst. It is the first sequel to 2007's award-winning game Dream Chronicles, also the second installment in the Dream Chronicles series, plus the middle part of the first trilogy called Faye's Journey.
Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child is a 2009 adventure and puzzle casual game developed by KatGames and originally published by PlayFirst. It is the third installment in the Dream Chronicles series, the second sequel to 2007's award-winning game Dream Chronicles and also the last part of the first trilogy called Faye's Journey.
Puzzle Bots is a graphic adventure developed by Ivy Games and published by Wadjet Eye Games. The game uses a point and click interface to interact with the environment to solve puzzles and communicate with characters.
Microsoft Ultimate Word Games is a word puzzle game published by Microsoft Studios, first released for Windows Phone as 'Wordament' on April 24, 2012. The game was relaunched in June 2017 with two new game modes, Crosswords and Word Twister.
SpellTower is a 2011 puzzle video game by Zach Gage in which the player creates words from a jumble of letter tiles to clear the screen before it refills. The game has several game modes and a multiplayer battle mode. The impetus for the game—the concept of combining elements from Tetris and Boggle in what was a prototype of the puzzle video game Puzzlejuice—inspired Gage to create SpellTower. The game was released for iOS in November 2011 to generally favorable reviews. Versions for OS X and Android followed over the next two years. In 2017 SpellTower Minutes was released. This browser-based Flash game created special "blitz" like modes not found in the mobile releases. A new iOS version released in 2017 swapped out the unnamed dictionary and began using Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. French and Dutch language specific versions were also released. A 2020 release, SpellTower+, added new game modes, cleaner visuals, and a jazz soundtrack.
Zach Gage is an independent video game programmer and designer based in New York City. He is known for his iOS games, including SpellTower.
Really Bad Chess is a mobile video game developed by Zach Gage. It was released on October 13, 2016, for iOS, with a version for Android released in May 2017. The game is based on the original game of chess but contains rearranged boards.