Spellspire

 Switch
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. FNintendo
    Nov 23, 2017
    70
    Spellspire may look simple and unassuming but any attempts to underestimate it should be quickly discarded as this typing game reveals itself to be addictive, long lasting and far from an easy experience.
  2. Nintendo Life
    Nov 29, 2017
    60
    Spellspire is simple, unique, and will make you feel like your English skills are on par with a 10-year old. The fun blend of word puzzle and fantasy adventure is enough to flesh out hours of content, and the snappy interface makes it easy to jump in for a few floors of spellbinding action. Longer play sessions wear a bit thin due to the need to grind, and the inconsistent difficulty makes progression feel less satisfying than it really should. It's not out to impress with its story or visuals, but if you want something quick and easy to play in handheld mode then it's a pretty solid choice. At its current price we'd only really recommend it to players who enjoy word games in general, and maybe keep a dictionary close to hand...
  3. Switch Player
    Nov 29, 2017
    60
    10tons' spelling RPG-lite is good fun in short bursts, but the grind will grate after a while. While I wouldn't recommend Spellspire to the majority of Nintendo Switch owners, if you are a fan of mental puzzle games then you will find something to enjoy here.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. TheFlannelFox
    Nov 30, 2017
    5
    Ever wonder is Dumbledore is good at scrabble?

    Spellspire is a word game mixed with an action rpg, where you play as a little wizard    Ever wonder is Dumbledore is good at scrabble?

    Spellspire is a word game mixed with an action rpg, where you play as a little wizard fighting his way through hordes of supernatural enemies. Playing through an evil ridden tower floor by floor, you cast attack spells by spelling different words from the collection of ten letters freshly provided each round. Depending on the length of the word your damage varies with the longer the word, the higher the damage.

    When playing your entering the letters as fast as you can, because when the timer runs out the next enemy in line will attack. Eventually noticing I wasn’t even looking at the character on top, I was just staring at the letters trying to get as many words as a can. This being that yes there are different characters that you're facing but essentially the name of the game is enter the longest word you can, before the timer runs out until the round is over. Having the touch screen on the switch handheld does help with faster key input, but I opted for the d-pad since my switch screen is super clean and I don’t want to change that.

    While playing feels good, I wish that similar to Words with Friends, there was a button to toss the letters around, mixing them up to help you to find new combinations. You will get a lot of repeat batches of letters in the same positions, which you start to remember the combination of letters previously used and can use that to your advantage, but also shows the size of the pool you are drawing from.

    When each enemy is defeated they either drop an item or most of the time, coins. These coins can be spent to upgrade you wizards wares, increase your health, damage, or but new items giving you new special abilities. These upgrades help tons when facing off against powerful bosses, unless you are able to max out the word length on a level, upgrading your wand to a fire wand makes a crucial difference in battle.

    If you replay previously defeated levels and beat them without sustaining any damage, you received a star, these stars can also be used to purchase new items that are otherwise unavailable. Which is a great strategy when facing a particularly difficult opponent.

    That being said the pool of 100,000 words that you have to choose from is a bit odd. You can use some very obscure words such as rubaboo which is a basic stew or porridge consumed by fur traders of North America, or Git british slang for person, but cannot use the word unsee which the oxford dictionary defines as Erase the memory of or no longer register. Which is fine to have a limited amount of words, but they aren’t exactly localized. If play with an American vocabulary you feel a bit hindered in your choices unless you really remember harry potter, which is the only reason I typed in git.

    Spellspire is a word game action rpg that’s really light on the action rpg, which is typicaly used to refer to real time combat, which this is not even close to. So if you are a word game fan, that enjoys a little pressure in your puzzling, this may be right up your alley. But if you enjoy action rpgs and think this may be your zelda like with scrabble elements, i’d say SPELL no to this one.

    Be sure to watch my video review on YouTube channel TheFlannelFox    … Full Review »
  2. foxviewchannel
    Nov 15, 2017
    8
    Having played many games throughout the years from all different genres, I was really looking forward to Spellspire because it wasn’t likeHaving played many games throughout the years from all different genres, I was really looking forward to Spellspire because it wasn’t like anything I had previously experienced before. Spellspire is an interesting game that mashes word game puzzles along with an action role playing game. . I have played nearly every 10Tons Game and I enjoy how simple yet addictive their games are and Spellspire is no exception

    You play as a Wizard who has to get past all sorts of levels in a Tower while defeating various monsters. The goal is to pick letters from a grid made out of 10 letters to spell different words and shoot them from your wand as magical spells to defeat the enemies, the longer the word the bigger the attack power

    What I appreciated most in Spellspire is that it made me think and challenge myself to create various words in a limited amount of time before the enemy hits me back. 3 Letter words is the minimum to cause damage on an enemy and I found myself constantly at the edge of my seat, trying to create longer words to inflict more damage.

    Spellspire also has challenging bosses to beat after completing a couple of Levels. You will need to be quick because each of those monsters have different attack times and health. It was fun creating words to destroy those monsters and I enjoyed the variety in the enemies throughout the game.

    The RPG elements in Spellspire are what shine the most. After each kill, you are rewarded with coins which can be spent in the shop. Buying and upgrading different items such as Hats, Robes and Wands is key to successfully beat the game because each item has its own advantages and disadvantages against the countless enemies you will be facing in your adventure. These items have different powers such as wands that create fire and Robs that allows you to deal more damage. I spent a good amount of time in the shop trying out different combinations of items to take along on my adventure

    With 100 Levels in the Tower, 10Tons have delivered a game with plenty of content and replay value. Spellspire is a wonderfully simple game to pick up and play    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »