Playing Bookworm Adventures Deluxe

Goal

The goal of Bookworm Adventures is to make words to defeat the foes standing between Lex the Bookworm and his mission to rescue Cassandra the Oracle. Adventure mode is made up of three books, each of which is divided into ten chapters.

Gameplay Basics

To make words, click on the 4x4 grid of letter tiles to send letters up to the top half of the game screen. Unlike in the original Bookworm, the letters can be selected from anywhere in the grid and do not need to be connected.

Words must be at least 3 letters long to be valid, and the longer the word you spell, the more damage it will do to an enemy. When a valid word has been spelled, the word will sparkle and the "Attack" button underneath the grid will light up. Click "Attack" (or press "Enter" or "4" on the keyboard) and Lex will launch an attack on the current foe.

Lex gives verbal hints about your word power. In order of increasing strength they are: Good, Wow, Nice, Very Good, Awesome, Excellent, Fantastic and Astonishing!

The Health meter above each foe shows how much health it has left. When a foe's Health meter drops to zero, it is defeated, at which point Lex is restored to full health, all status ailments disappear and Lex moves on to the next enemy as a scroll of your best words appears to the right of the letter grid.

Lex also has a Health meter. As the foes attack, Lex loses health. If Lex's Health meter drops to zero, Lex will die and be returned to the beginning of the chapter. Lex keeps the experience points gained up until his death, but you will lose any potions you used before Lex died.

Map Screen

When Lex completes a chapter he is taken to the Map Screen where he will make his way to the next chapter. You can enter the chapter either by clicking the "Enter" button at the bottom of the screen or by clicking on the chapter's shiny icon on the map.

Treasures

At the end of each chapter is a powerful enemy who must be defeated in a Boss Battle. Once you've defeated the Boss, Lex will wiggle to the end of the chapter where he will be rewarded with a special treasure. Treasures have different powers that affect Lex's fighting ability, and they appear in the treasure area in the lower left-hand area of the screen. Treasures work automatically and do not need to be clicked to activate.

Lex can only carry three treasures at a time. Once you complete the 4th chapter of Book 1, Professor Codex will send you to the Treasure Room before each chapter where you can select the three treasures you wish to take with you into battle.

(For a more detailed list of treasures check the Treasure List section of this readme.)

Experience Points (XP)

Midway through Book 1, Chapter 2, Cassandra will appear and introduce the Level Up bar in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. From then on every time you defeat an enemy, experience points will sparkle up from the enemy's defeat marker and gradually fill the Level Up bar. When the Level Up bar is filled, the Level Up screen appears and Lex receives a bonus that helps him fight. There are three types of Level Up bonuses: Health Increased (adds another heart to Lex's Health meter), Attack Increased (increases the amount of damage your words cause to the enemy) and Defense Increased (decreases the amount of damage Lex takes when hit by an enemy).

Lore

At the beginning of Book 1, Chapter 3, the area to the right of the letter grid opens up as the enemy's lore display. The lore shows the enemy's attacks as well as special immunities (such as immunity to 3-letter words) and vulnerabilities (such as weakness to "fire" words). The lore section also contains additional information or commentary about the enemy.

Potions

Starting at Book 1, Chapter 3, Lex gains the chance to earn special potions as he defeats enemies. There are three kinds of potions. Health potions become available during Book 1, Chapter 3 and restore some of Lex's hearts when he's been damaged. Power-Up potions become available during Book 1, Chapter 4 and increase the amount of damage a word will cause to an enemy. Purify potions become available in Book 1, Chapter 5 and remove the effects of attacks to the board (such as smashed tiles, locked tiles, plagued tiles, Stun or Petrify) as well as lingering attacks to Lex (such as Poison, Bleed, Freeze or Power-Down).

Potions appear to the left of the letter grid above the treasures and are activated by clicking on them or by hitting "1" on the keyboard for Health potions, "2" for Power-Up potions and "3" for Purify potions. Clicking a potion does not use up one of Lex's turns.

Scramble

At the beginning of Book 1, Chapter 4, Cassandra introduces the Scramble button underneath Lex's treasure area. If you're stuck trying to find a word with the letters available on the grid, clicking Scramble will give you a new grid of letters to work with. However, hitting Scramble takes a turn and leaves Lex open to an enemy's attack.

Gem Tiles

Once you have completed Book 1, Chapter 5, Lex acquires the power of gem tiles. Gem tiles are earned by spelling longer words and each unleashes different effects when they are used in a word. They are:

• Amethyst gem (purple) - Poisons enemy for two turns, adds 15% damage to the word.
• Emerald gem (green) - Heals Lex for two hearts, adds 20% damage to the word.
• Sapphire gem (blue) - Freezes enemy for 1 turn, adds 25% damage to the word.
• Garnet gem (orange) - Weakens the enemy's attack for two turns, adds 30% damage to the word.
• Ruby gem (red) - Sets enemy on fire for three turns, adds 35% damage to the word.
• Crystal gem (bright pink) - Purifies Lex and the grid, shields Lex from damage for 1 turn, adds 50% damage to word.
• Diamond gem (white) - Fully heals Lex, gives one of each potion type, adds 100% damage to word.

Gem tiles are cumulative in their effects. So, for instance, if you use an Emerald gem (20% damage boost) and a Ruby gem (35% damage boost) in a word, then Lex will be healed for two hearts, the enemy will be set on fire for three turns, and the word's power will be boosted by 20% + 35%, or 55%. Stacking gem tiles with damage or healing effects will increase the intensity of the effect. For example, if you spell a word with three Amethyst gems, all three poison effects will apply and damage the enemy individually, causing triple the damage over the same two-turn period. Stacking gem tiles with freezing, weakening, or invincibility effects will increase the duration of the effect. For example, if you spell a word with three Sapphire gems, the enemy will be frozen for three consecutive turns.

Ailments

Some enemies have attacks that can cause lingering damage to individual letter tiles, the letter grid as a whole or to Lex himself.

Tile Ailments

• Smashed Tile - Tile can be used but causes no damage to enemy. Tile returns to normal when the number reaches zero. Gem tiles cannot be smashed.
• Locked Tile - Tile cannot be used to spell words. Tile returns to normal when the number reaches zero. Gem tiles cannot be locked.
• Plagued Tile - Tile causes no damage to enemy. In addition, the infection can spread to other tiles if the plagued tile is not used or purified. Tile returns to normal when the number reaches zero. Gem tiles cannot be plagued.

• Stunned - Lex is stunned and must click the tile grid to clear his head. This takes a turn during which the enemy will launch another attack.
• Frozen - Lex is frozen and must click the tile grid to warm up. This takes a turn during which the enemy will launch an attack.
• Petrified - Lex is petrified and must click the tile grid to de-petrify. This takes two turns during which the enemy will attack.

• Poison - Damages Lex a constant amount each turn. Poison disappears when the number reaches zero.
• Bleed - Damages Lex each turn. Bleed damage increases by a factor of 2 each turn. Bleed disappears when the number reaches zero.
• Burn - Damages Lex each turn. Burn damage decreases by a factor of 2 each turn. Burn disappears when the number reaches zero.
• Power Down - Reduces Lex's attack power. Lex's attacks return to normal when the number reaches zero.

Clicking a Purify potion removes all ailments.

Bonus Words

Some creatures have vulnerabilities to particular categories of words. For example, the Bronze and Steel Stymphalian Birds are weak to "metal" words, so any metal words will do additional damage. In addition to specific vulnerabilities, which are listed in an enemy's lore section, there are also Secret Bonus Words that apply to chapters or particular enemies. These typically relate in some fashion to the creature or area, so feel free to experiment and seek them out!

Stats Box

Mousing over Lex's name in the upper left corner of the screen will reveal a drop-down box that contains statistical information about your play. The box shows number of hearts, attack multiplier, defense multiplier, Lex's current overall level, your average word length, the number of enemies you've defeated and the number of times you've been defeated.

Congratulations Screen

Each time you complete a Book in Adventure mode, you will be rewarded with the Congratulations screen which lists total words spelled, your average word length, your best words overall as well as the number of times you spelled words of various lengths.

Replay Adventure

Once you have completed Adventure mode, you can replay it by creating a new profile on the Main Menu page by clicking the "Click here to change users" link in Lex's "Welcome Back" speech bubble.

Mini-Games

As you make your way through the Books of Adventure mode, every so often Moxie the Fox will appear with an offer to visit her mini-game hut to win potions and gem tiles. There is no penalty if you lose and you are guaranteed at least one potion if you play. If you die during a chapter Moxie will allow you to play any of the mini-games you've unlocked for that Book.

Letter Rip

• unlocked at end of chapter 3, Book 1
• unlocked at end of chapter 6, Book 2
• unlocked at end of chapter 6, Book 3

Word Master

• unlocked at end of Chapter 6, Book 1
• unlocked at end of Chapter 3, Book 2
• unlocked at end of Chapter 3, Book 3

Link n' Spell

• unlocked at end of Chapter 9, Book 1
• unlocked at end of Chapter 8, Book 2
• unlocked at end of Chapter 8, Book 3

Completing Book 2 of Adventure mode will unlock Moxie's Mini-game Hut on the Main Menu screen. The mini-games play the same way as they do in Adventure mode with two differences. One, you earn points rather than potions and gems, and two, you can keep playing as many times as you like to go for a High Score.

(For more information on mini-game scoring, check the Scoring section of this readme.)

Arena Mode

Completing Book 3 of Adventure mode unlocks the Arena in the Main Menu screen, in which you face the bosses from Adventure mode one after the other for as long as you can last.

This is a timed mode. A bar above the letter grid slowly fills up and the boss attacks as soon as the bar is filled. Spell quickly!

You earn Level Up bonus tokens by spelling words and defeating enemies in special ways. Try attacking first, spelling small words quickly or taking out your opponent in a few shots. You'll level up faster and stay ahead of the curve.

Every five bosses you defeat leads to a checkpoint where you can return to the Treasure Room to select treasures for the next five bosses. Different treasures have an enormous impact on how difficult the bosses are to defeat, so don't be afraid to try out different combinations.

You can pause the game to take a breath, but the letters will be hidden while the game is paused. If you quit Arena mode your progress will be saved so you can continue at a later time.

Tome of Knowledge

Completing Book 1 of Adventure mode unlocks the Tome of Knowledge on the Main Menu screen. The Tome contains information on all the enemies you have defeated in Adventure mode as well as displaying the percentage of characters you've seen, the treasures you've found, the gem tiles you've created and the number of secrets you've discovered.

Hall of Fame

You can visit the Hall of Fame from either the Main Menu screen or after a game. This lets you see the high scores and best words players have made in the game! The Hall of Fame shows the best words and power rating letter grades for Adventure mode, the score and number of words spelled for the mini-games, and the last enemy defeated, total survival time, total score and number of bonuses for Arena mode.