Nintendo Crossword Collection DS

Josie Campbell's review of Nintendo Crossword Collection. Subscribe to this column via RSS or Newsletter.

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Buy: US UK
Our Shop

Column:
Domestic Gamer

Format:
DS

Genre:
Improvement

Written on:
23/07/2010

Second opinion:
Frugal Gamer (DS)

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Nintendo Crossword Collection doesn't just offer the little black and white squared variety, but also word searches and anagrams too.

Having got totally hooked on The Times Crossword Challenges, I was quite excited to see Nintendo Crossword Collection. It is nice to see a new offering for the grey-haired gamer (not including myself in that genre I hasten to add).

Although not as sleek and good looking at its Times counterpart, this game seems altogether easier to navigate, and hopefully not as confusing for someone like my sixty-something mum, who had a go at the Times version but found it too confusing. Also no cryptic crosswords, which may be a bit off putting for the hardcore puzzlers out there, but for me a great relief!

There are three difficulty levels. I go for easy every time, and a wealth of puzzles to choose in each level. The easy level gives you clues like 'Make a hot drink in this' (6 letters) and at the more difficult level: 'Aethelwulf's Son' (6 letters).

My daughter who is six and a half caught sight of the box of Nintendo Crossword Collection and asked me if she could play it. I immediately dismissed it, saying it would be much too difficult for her. After more pestering I let her have a go, and to my amazement she was actually quite good at the crosswords - or word crosses as she called them.

We turned on the 'cheat mode' which bleeps at you if you get a letter wrong and highlights the square a different colour. This helped her a lot. If she didn't understand or wasn't able read the clue she would just write in random letters until she got the right sound. She actually managed to complete a whole puzzle using this approach! A bit long winded, but she did enjoy it and I'm sure it is all good practice for spelling at school!

My middle child is now at school and the youngest still has a daytime sleep, so I finally have a bit of time to myself. The other day after lunch, all my jobs were done; lunch cleared away, washing folded; e-mails checked, and I found myself strangely drawn in by a DS wordsearch.

I remember buying wordsearch books as an early teen and doing them on the train on the way to see my granny. It was always very satisfying circling the words and ticking them off the list. The Nintendo Crossword Collection version is great; it highlights the words you have found really nicely and gives you a running list on the left hand screen, showing you which you still have to find. The easy version (which I did) was good and not too taxing. You have a wide choice of different subject matter, I went for body parts, but I could have chosen, animals or countries or cities. Watch out though a lot of the words are backwards, which gets challenging sometimes.

If you exhaust both of those then you can move on to some Countdown style anagrams - these I am useless at. If only my granny were still alive, she was a whiz at countdown - even aged 90! I wonder how she would have got on with a DS?

Nintendo Crossword Collection is a brilliant little game with great puzzles. It's quick and easy to use. Ideal for anyone with time on their hands, on a journey, or the daily commute, or waiting in the car to pick the kids up from school.

Written by Josie Campbell

Josie Campbell writes the Domestic Gamer column. "As quite a domesticated mum of three I love the thought that Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS lite and PSP games can have a practical role around the home and enriching everyday life but also fun to chill out and unwind with too. Here are my Domestic Gamer review, join me to read about all sorts of games, from cooking, health, and family ones too."

Josie Campbell's recent reviews:

• Last Window: Secret of Cape West
• Electrolux Ergorapido
• Your Shape
• Family Games Night

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