Bonnie's Bookstore
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Bonnie's Bookstore is a word-forming computer puzzle game developed by New Crayon Games and published by PopCap Games. On each level, tiles containing one (or in some cases, two) letters are arranged in a specific structure. As in the similar title Bookworm, players use adjacent letters to form valid words, with points being awarded based on the length of the word. In most cases, once a letter is used, it is removed from the board, with existing letters moving downwards and new letters filling in from the top.
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[edit] Story / premise
In Bonnie's Bookstore, the titular character runs a bookstore which she has inherited from her deceased grandfather. One day while cleaning the attic, she discovers a series of paintings apparently created by him. The paintings appear to depict scenes from popular children's stories. In a flash of inspiration, Bonnie decides to become an author, writing updated versions of these classic stories while using her grandfather's paintings as the illustrations.
Each of the 50 stages in the game represents a chapter in a book. After completing a certain number of chapters, Bonnie finishes the book she's working on, receiving a congratulatory letter from her publisher and moving on to the next. The books include tales such as The Frog Prince, Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland, and others.
In order to complete a given level or stage, Bonnie must use a letter from each physical location of the board. Creating a word with a tile which has not previously been used causes the color of the tile at that position to change. Bonnie has only a limited number of turns or moves (with each word consuming one turn) to use every tile position on the board. At higher difficulty levels, more points are awarded, but the allowed number of turns decreases.
[edit] Special tiles
In addition to standard tiles which contain fixed letters, the game also features a number of special tiles which make play either easier or more difficult, depending on the tile. These special tiles are as follows:
- Cycling Tiles - Tiles which automatically change which letter they contain after each player move. Hence, the letter "E", if unused, next becomes the letter "F", etc. These tiles are awarded for creating a word where each letter in the word is alphabetically before the next (e.g., "Fly" or "Ace").
- Locked Tiles - Tiles which are represented by a small lock icon. In order to unlock the tile so that it may be used to form a word, another word must be made using an adjacent letter. These tiles begin as part of the initial letters on certain levels, but never appear as new tiles during the course of a level.
- Wildcards - These tiles can be used to take the place of any missing letter. They may either begin as part of the initial board contents for a level, or may be awarded for creating long words. If a player creates an exceptionally long word, the special wildcard which is awarded can be used over and over again without disappearing.
- Writer's Blocks - These tiles represent a writer's block, or difficulty in coming up with the needed words to complete the story. They do not contain a letter and cannot be used to make words. Instead, if players wish to get rid of them, they must eliminate the tiles underneath, causing the Writer's Blocks to fall off the bottom of the board. These tiles often appear if players form short words (e.g. those with only 3 letters) or if they use the "scramble" function.
[edit] Other features
Additionally, some levels feature further complications which make completing the level more difficult. These increase in frequency the farther one is into the game. These can include:
- Boards on which Writer's Blocks appear even when forming 4-letter words.
- Boards on which all tiles must be used to form words twice in order to count as being "used".
- Boards on which re-using a letter which has already been used causes the letter to be marked as unused.
Fortunately for the player, the game does also include some features which make things easier. This includes word hinting, where the game suggests shorter words which can be created if the player is sitting for a period of time without making a move.
A scramble function is also available, where the existing tile contents are scrambled, possibly moving a more common letter to a tile which still needs to be utilized. The downside of this is that using the scramble feature consumes a move, and also adds Writer's Blocks in place of one or more of the existing tiles.
