

Lightning mode requires you to solve a series of longer words. The fast pace of the game makes it perfect for playing in quick bursts. You need to find enough words whose total combined length meets a preset target, in a finite amount of time. In Letter Mania, you only need to find one word with each set of tiles the letters you use are replaced with more. Mercifully, it seems like someone at RealArcade understood the flimsy offerings of the original game TextTwist 2 sports several other game modes that add interesting twists (ha!) to the game’s original conceit.

It’s annoying, but doesn’t render the game unplayable. When the letters in a given round can spell many words-which happens with some frequency-you’re forced to scroll horizontally to review all the words you’ve already submitted. While the timer’s return is welcomed, I still feel the iPhone’s screen isn’t perfectly suited to the game’s presentation. If you prefer your text games without a race against the clock, though, you can always choose the untimed mode instead.

The timer adds a necessary sense of pressure and challenge to the game, and I heartily welcome its return. While TextTwist Turbo for iPhone lacked a two-minute timer, this sequel restores the original Web game’s challenging time constraints. At its core, TextTwist 2 is a jumble game: You’re presented with a batch of letters, and need to find all the words that those letters can form.
