An Introduction to Word Whomp

And Gofer The Giant Turnip!

Word Whomp is a single player word search game that first appeared on the Internet game site Pogo in 2003. The object of the game is to make as many words as possible out of six letters that a group of goofy looking gofers hold up before the time runs out. Each game is fast paced and action packed taking only a few minutes to play each game.

This game has no real age requirements as many of the words are three and four letters making it a fun learning game for young school age children who are just learning to spell and use words. While they probably won't find many of the longer 5 and 6 letter words, they can have a lot of fun finding the smaller words and moving the gofer from turnip to turnip and scoring points.

While young kids can have a ball and increase their spelling and vocabulary skills playing this game older adults can have just as much fun trying to beat the clock and seeing just how many points they can score each game and if they can find all the words that are there.

Word Whomp is an online game that can be played over the Web or downloaded to your computer or iPhone. Hasbro also has a pocket version of Word Whomp that sells for about $30. The pocket version is nice and much like the version that appears on Pogo games.

How To Play Word Whomp

The rules for this game are pretty simple: you are given a 6 letter word with the letters scrambled. You need to unscramble this word, as well as make as many other words from the 6 letters as possible.

The letters are held in the hands of little gofers and there are posts where blanks for all the possible words appear on posts. Simply use your mouse to click on the letters you want to make a word and submit the word and it appears in one of the blank spaces for words.

The object of the game is to find as many words as possible before the time runs out and with each word you find, you gain more points and move the little gofer at the bottom of the screen along so he can eat the turnips.

If you find all the words in a given puzzle then the gofer gets to eat the big turnip and you get 50 extra points for finding all the words in the puzzle. There is one golden group of squares on the word post and if find the word that goes in this square you also gain extra points.

Earn enough points and you get a free jackpot spin, which on the Pogo game is worth tokens that you can use to play other games and do other fun things.

Hints To Help You Score Big

Since the whole purpose of the game is to score as many points as possible and to try to complete all the words on the list, here are some tips that will help you do that...

• The words on the poles go in alphabetical order. So, if you have all the words but one or two, you can use the word before and after the blank set of words to help you find the missing word.

  For example if you are missing a three letter word that comes after 'egg' and before 'era' then you know this word starts with an 'e' and the second letter is going to fall between 'g' and 'r', allowing you to try different combinations with the available letters.

• If you are missing a 5 or 6 letter word, look for words you already have that you may be able to add an available "ed" "d" "s" "es" "r" or "er" to in order to make the longer word.
• Instead of trying to unscramble the 6-letter word first, simply start making as many words as possible. Sometimes it is easy to spot the larger word right off and sometimes you won't find it at all, even if it is a word you use often.
• When the game is complete, take the time to read the words you missed. These words may be used in other puzzles and having seen them on previous games will help you to recall them when you see the combination of letters again.
• There is also a button you can click on that will mix the letters if all else fails and you are stuck - changing the letters around will sometimes get you going again.

The Best Place To Play Word Whomp

Probably the best place to play Word Whomp is right on the Pogo site. While Yahoo! and other sites offer this game, it is still a Pogo game that they have acquired rights to use on their sites.

Another great source is the Hasbro pocket version that can travel with you so you can play wherever you go.

There are also several new versions of this game including Word Whomp Whack Down, which offers a bonus round and a chance to gain more points by unscrambling 5 additional words before the hunting dog catches up with you and stops you dead in your tracks.

Another new version is Word Whomp Underground. In this game, the little gofers are gathering acorns to arm their weapons to plan an attack on Washington to demand that the country give them back their land!

No matter which version of the game you choose to play, Word Whomp is fun and is guaranteed to help increase your vocabulary.

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