You've got bubbles. You've got letters. And you've got a powerful need to spell some words, all while swapping orbs against the clock. That's the basic premise of Burble and its newer cousin Burble Select, a word game meets marble popper experience from Charlie Dog Games. Using the power of your hand, drag and drop letter bubbles to switch position with other bubbles, all while the chain of orbs slowly advances down the path. Your goal is to spell four letter and above words, eliminating bubbles and postponing your Level Lost! for another day. Act fast and hope your vocabulary is as flexible as it is comprehensive!
In addition to the main mode, Burble comes with a few additional modes that change the rules of the game's levels. There's a standard endless and extra challenging mode to try out, but the most intriguing is puzzle mode. This rule set turns off the timer and only advances bubbles when you make a swap. That translates into an extraordinary economy of moves on your part, making words with as few motions as you can. It's almost like playing chess, just with 26 pieces (and still no way to get rid of that pesky Q!).
More recently, Charlie Dog Games released Burble Select (Android only at the moment), an updated and expanded version of Burble that keeps most of the core gameplay intact but makes one crucial change: instead of swapping bubbles, you simply tap them. This allows much more freedom in your word creation, as you can move around the screen to add any letter you like. Arguably, this lowers the difficulty a bit since you aren't constrained by proximity, but sometimes your synapses don't the extra workout, right?
Both Burble and Burble Select are great blends of two different genres, and the best part is that neither game attempts to accomplish more than it sets out to do. No crazy mini-games, no forced storylines, just simple and satisfying word game fun!
NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on an HTC Incredible. Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.
The browser version doesn't seem to recognize words properly. It's failed to recognize "water," "nape," and "feats." Also, I was an S away from "cancerous" in the first level. It recognized "cancer" - which I didn't submit, waiting for that S - but I could submit other words in the meantime. So that doesn't explain its failure to register other words - and I don't know what would.
Moreover, that entire first level never had a single S. The second level had six Ns and only two vowels. There's nothing like Scrabble's limited number of tiles or proportionate distribution by frequency in the language; it seems totally random. The idea is okay, but it all feels very unpolished.
Interesting comment. I just checked the game and it seems to be working fine. It certainly recognized water and feats when I tried. The letter distribution is random but I have refined it in later android versions and the web version is a bit old now. I'll do a new web build with the improved letter distribution in it and get it up on my site tonight. I might also put a version "Select" up there too if I have time. Unfortunately I have a bedroom wall to paint tonight as well :(
I also noticed that it doesn't recognize words well. In my case, it didn't recognize good, data, or hood. I quit at that point. Also, it's not at all clear if words can go both directions...
Wow! OK well I have no idea why you chaps are having these issues because I just tried both versions of the games and all the words you have problems with where recognized and accepted for me.
Words work backwards and forwards.
I really want to fix these issues so please can you email me directly on [email protected]
and I'll do my best to fix this.
BTW there is a new version of the game up on my website now which has improved letter distribution. the link is the same as before.
I just played Burble and had heaps of fun. I didn�t encounter the problems that Apo and Bubba joe had. The only problem I had was I couldn�t stop playing it XD.
Cool game, easy to play and to understand how to play. I have played both the original and select on android for a while, gave them 5 stars. I have tested this web version and it works fine for me.
Good game. Quite Zen-like in puzzle mode :)
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