Sorry, meant to send this directly to this list so this could go into
the archives
Begin forwarded message:
From: Esther
Date: August 20, 2010
To: viph...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Tips for How to Play Moxie on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or
iPad [was Re: Moxie Tips]
Hi Jane and Others,
Here's a description of how to play Moxie. I'll cc this to the
Macvisionaries list.
Moxie is a word game where you draw letters, and use them to
assemble words that can be up to five letters in length, and set
them down in one of three rows. The letters have point values, so
that vowels "A", "E", "I", "O", and the letter "S" have one point
each, letters that occur infrequently, such as "J", "K", "X", or "Z"
have 10 points each, "Q" has 20 points, and most other letters
(e.g., "B", "C", "D", "F", "G", etc.) have 3 points each. "U","V",
and "W" have 5 points each. The points, as in Scrabble, are
assigned according to how difficult it is to use the letter in a word.
As you flick across the screen, you'll hear numbers assigned to each
space, according to the row and column entry of each letter. So the
first row of five letters will have spaces announced as "11", "12",
"13", "14", and "15", while the second row of five letters will have
spaces announced as numbers 21-25, and the third row will have
spaces announced as numbers 31-35.
The object of the game is form new words using the 51 letters that
you draw by setting them down in either blank spots or spots that
are currently occupied by letters, and maximize your word score.
When you make a new word your total word score is the sum of the
number of points for each letter in that word, multiplied by the
number of letters.
However, if you put down a letter that turns a word into a nonsense
word, that's called a "twaddle", and your score is docked by 30
points. In addition, there are bonus "Moxie" words according to the
category theme of your puzzle (e.g., Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral),
for which you receive a bonus of 100 points for 3 letter "Moxie"
words, 200 points for 4 letter "Moxie" words, and 300 points for 5
letter "Moxie" words.
The top part of the screen announces your score (on the left), along
with stats like your best word score, number of Moxie words you have
made, number of twaddles, game type (e.g., animal, vegetable, or
mineral theme for Moxie words), and the letters remaining in the
queue. When the screen opens, focus will be on your score (0,
initially), and you can run your finger down to read off the stats,
find, out the game type, and that there are 51 letters in the
queue. Normally, I might only check the score (a four finger flick
up will always take you to the score, which is the first entry), or
the remaining letters (by moving my finger up along the left side of
the screen from the three rows of five boxes each. (The empty boxes
only click if you run your finger up or across without flicking.)
If you flick right from the score, the top right part of the screen
gives the currently drawn letter, and if you run your finger down
just below it you'll hear the point value announced. Given the
summary information about letter and point values (which comes from
perusing the "Help" button at the bottom right), you probably don't
need to read this.
For the main action you need to plan out the strategy for putting
down letters. You only form words from left to right in each of the
three rows, and you can't move letters once they have been set
down. You can put a letter down either in a blank space or in a
space that is already occupied by a letter by double tapping in that
square. You'll hear a click as your letter gets entered in the
selected position and the next letter in the queue appears at the
top right. You can also pass on a letter. If you form a new word,
you'll hear a little cash register ching, and your score addition
will be updated. If you put down a letter that turns you word into
something that is not a word, you'll hear "twaddle", and your score
will be docked by 30 points. However, any further letters you put
down in that row will not change your score until you form a new
word. If you form a duplicate of a previous word, you'll hear a
blow sound, but your score will not change, since only new words
count.
An example may help at this point. I'll only describe changes made
in one row, although your strategy will be to work to form high-
point words in all three rows.
Say your first letter in "B" and you double tap the square for 12.
You next receive a "D" and you double tap the square for 14, so your
top line has a space, followed by a "B", followed by another space
and then a "D". The next letter is "E" and you double tap the space
between the "B" and "D" to make "BED". You hear the ching as your
score updates for a new word. Next you get a "T", and you double
tap the square (14) for the "D" to substitute a letter to make a new
word, "BET". Again, you hear the ching as your score updates. Now
you get an "A", and you could double tap square 11, just before the
three letters of "BET" and make the word, "ABET". But since the
theme is "Animal", and "BAT" is a Moxie bonus word, you decide to
double tap the square (13) with the "E" and replace it with "A" to
make "BAT". You hear the click and a swoosh to indicate that you
made a Moxie word.
The strategy lies in planning ways to form lots of words. With
short words, if you get a high scoring letter, you can easily switch
single letters to keep forming words that include that letter:
e.g., "JAY", "JOY", "JOT", "JOG", etc. But with longer words you
get bonuses for length. Also, if you use the "Q" you are likely to
need to plan for where to place a "U". These complicated
arrangements are also why you may occasionally choose to "Pass" on
using a letter by double tapping the "Pass" button at the bottom
center.
The other two buttons at the bottom of the page are "Help" on the
left -- which explains scoring, how to play, and Moxie words, and
"Menu" on the right, which allows you to restart games, view high
scores (paid edition, I think), and change your options (e.g.
selected category of animal, vegetable, or mineral).
One quick comment: in Moxie Two, they added a sixth space for words,
but I hear this announced by VoiceOver as a duplicate of the
previous square (e.g., going across the first row the squares will
be "11", "12", "13,"14", "15", and "15" again.) Anybody else notice
this?
HTH. Cheers,
Esther
On Aug 20, 2010, at 06:41, Raul A. Gallegos wrote:
This weekend I plan on doing an audio review of Moxie. If you can
wait
for that, perhaps it'll help.
Many thanks.
--
Sent from Raul's Thunderbird
Twitter: rau47
Facebook: rgallegos74
Home page: www.asmodean.net
On 8/20/2010 12:06 PM, Jane wrote:
Does anyone have tips to play MNoxie? I grabbed the free version
yesterday and all I see are buttons with numbers on hem. When I
cl,ick
on it, I see a letter in the line of buttons after the fact. I
can't
seem to figure out how to make words if I can't see what they are to
begin with. Anyone got any ideas?
Jane
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