Paperback: The Game
- November 29, 2017
- Mark Fassett
Get on SteamPaperback is a word-building game with deck-building elements. Players start with a small deck of letter cards and use them to form words, aiming to earn points and buy better cards for their deck. The game offers solo play, local pass-and-play, and online multiplayer modes, with various difficulty settings and themed card sets to keep the experience fresh. It's a word game suitable for casual and experienced players alike.
Reviews
- The game combines deck-building mechanics with word creation, making it a fun and engaging experience for word game enthusiasts.
- The digital implementation is visually appealing and smooth, providing a pleasant aesthetic that complements the gameplay.
- It's a great casual game that can be played quickly, making it ideal for short gaming sessions with friends or family.
- The online multiplayer functionality is broken, often kicking players back to the lobby between turns, which disrupts the flow of the game.
- There are significant issues with the game's dictionary, allowing the AI to use proper nouns while restricting human players, leading to frustration.
- The lack of basic settings, such as fullscreen options and volume controls, detracts from the overall user experience.
- music8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received negative feedback, with users criticizing the limited number of tracks and the jazzy style, which many found unappealing. Additionally, the music resets when switching tasks, disrupting the gameplay experience, and there are no adjustable sound levels, leading some players to turn off the music entirely. Overall, the lack of variety and control over the audio elements detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.
“Would be nice to have some of the game expansions as options, and also for the music to be longer or more varied.”
“I wasn't a fan of the jazzy music, as usual.”
“Switching tasks and going back to the game both reset the music.”
“There are very few tracks in the game, making the situation even worse, so I just turned off the music after about a minute.”
- graphics6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The graphics are generally considered fine, with artwork that fits the game's theme, though opinions on the aesthetic quality vary. However, the interface feels overly mobile-oriented, lacking essential options like resolution and fullscreen controls, which detracts from the overall experience. While the visuals are simple and straightforward, some players feel that improvements could enhance appreciation of the artwork.
“The artwork is perfect for the game, and the rules are simple and straightforward to understand.”
“It would be nice also to be able to make the window fit the screen, so the artwork can be better appreciated, especially those clever book covers of the 'best sellers' that make up some of the victory cards.”
“Aesthetically pleasing, simple to learn, great fun to play.”
“The graphics are fine, but the interface feels very mobile-like, and I wasn't a fan of the jazzy music, as usual.”
“There are no resolution, fullscreen/window, or graphics controls.”
“It would be nice to be able to make the window fit the screen so the artwork can be better appreciated, especially those clever book covers of the 'best sellers' that make up some of the victory cards.”
- gameplay4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The gameplay is noted for its engaging mechanics and enjoyable AI for solo play, but it suffers from repetitiveness and issues with multiplayer functionality, such as error messages and a lack of simultaneous table viewing, which can lead to frustrations and suspicions of cheating among players.
“This was an easy way to jump into it, and I'm winning them over :) Great art, great mechanics, and the AI makes it fun to play solo.”
“The gameplay just gets repetitive after a fairly short time.”
“Not only did I experience error messages when trying to create rooms, but the format of the multiplayer (players cannot view the table simultaneously) seems antithetical to the fast-paced nature of the gameplay.”
“When I play online, I feel like my opponents are either cheating or abusing this mechanic.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users have reported encountering buggy behavior, indicating that stability issues are present in the game.
“I also ran into some buggy behavior, shocking.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable.”
“I experienced constant frame drops and stuttering, which ruined the immersion.”
