Word Up! 2.0 for Windows
Word Up! 2.0 for Windows by Anthony Stuchel

Word Up! will push your lexicon to the limit! Test your ability to define words that would make Merriam Webster grab a dictionary! Feel free to impress your friends, co-workers, and peers with a polysyllabic monstrosity that will make their cerebrum writhe. Send everyone with whom you come in contact fleeing for their own copy of Word Up! You can find out more information about various topics in Word Up! by selecting one of the following:

Main Menu

Playing the Game

Scoring

Mystery Word


Playing the Game

Word Up! game play is incredibly simple. A description follows, but as the adage goes, "What we learn to do, We learn by doing" so it might be a good idea just to play a bit to really get a feel for the game. After you select a game file, you are presented with the game play window which consists of the following:

Down the left side:

Word:	The number of words attempted out of the total that will be given.

Value:	This is what the current word is worth.

Score:	This is your total score.

Out of:	This is the maximum number of points you can get.

In the middle:

The Word:	This is the word that you need to define.

Definitions:	One of these defines the word.

Clue Button:	Click here if you want to lose points (or if you need a clue).

Message:	Between the Clue and Continue buttons, it keeps you informed about what's going on in the game.

Continue Button:	Click here (or press ENTER) once you have completed an action.

First read the word. Then decide from the presented definitions what the word means. If none of them look very appealing, you can always click on the Clue button (looks like a magnifying glass) and a clue will be given, but at a price. If you're still at a loss, just guess. Once you have selected an answer that you are happy with, click on the Continue button (looks like an arrow) to determine how you did. The result of your selection will be displayed in the Message area (between the two buttons). If you got the word right, the Mystery Word window will pop into view to give you the opportunity to increase your point values.

Once you have attempted all of the words in a quiz, you have the opportunity to retry any words that you may have missed for partial credit. Once you have taken a second stab at the missed words (considering that you actually missed any), the game comes to an abrupt end. Put your John Hancock in the high scores list if you did well then restart the game and play again and again until you know forwards and backwards every word in the quiz(zes) provided! Enjoy!


Scoring

The scoring process in Word Up! isn't too hard to understand, but can be sort of tricky. All you need to know to understand the scoring system are the following things:

1)	Words start with a value of 80 points.

2)	If you have to use a clue for a word, the value of the word will halve.

3)	If you guess the Mystery Word, the value of all words will double (increase by 100%).

4)	If you guess the Mystery Word, but used the clue, the value of all words will increase by 50%.

5)	The value of a word is halved if you are attempting to guess the definition a second time.

Confused? Here is an example (that may confuse you even more). A word starts by being worth 80 points. If you have to use a clue then it is only worth 40 points (halved). You move on to the next word which is worth 80 points. You guess it and then correctly guess the Mystery Word, all words are now worth 160 points (all the words doubled in value).

Here's the best case scenario:  You correctly guess all of the words on the first try without needing a clue (keeping the word value at 80) and guess the Mystery Word without needing a clue (doubling all of the word values to 160).

Here's a worse case scenario:  You can't figure out the word, so you get the clue, and the word is now worth 40 points. You don't answer correctly anyway. You make it to the end of the game and are allowed a second chance at the word you missed. Because you didn't guess the Mystery Word, and this is your second chance, the value of the word is 20. You still haven't a clue, and you forgot the one it previously gave you, so you ask for a clue again. Now the word is worth only 10 points (yuk!).

Scoring is simply a matter of halving values if you ask for clues or ask for a second chance and receiving a bonus if you guess the Mystery Word. Scoring is retroactive when it comes to the Mystery Word, so all word values are doubled (even words that you already answered) as soon as you correctly guess the Mystery Word. If you see a huge leap in your score when you guess the Mystery Word, this is why.


Mystery Word

The Mystery Word gives you the opportunity to increase the point values of words in Word Up!. Every time that you answer a word correctly in regular game play, you can take a crack at the Mystery Word.

When the Mystery Word window appears, you have several options. You may either guess a single letter by selecting the letter from the letter bank at the top of the window, get a clue by selecting the Clue button, or guess the word by selecting the Guess button. You may only select a single letter each time that you are presented the Mystery Word window, but you are allowed to guess the word at any time. Guessing the word effectively ends your turn, so it's a good idea to get that extra letter in before guessing since it's there for the taking. If you just can't guess what the Mystery Word is, you may use the clue to get a hint. But don't fall easily to this temptation because using the clue halves the doubling effect of answering the Mystery Word!

Once you have answered the Mystery Word, all word values in the game are doubled (unless you used the clue, in which case they are only increased by half).


John Hancock

Your name!


Main Menu

The main menu of Word Up! is as follows:

File

Open Quiz File

Presents you with a dialog to select and open a Word Up! quiz file.

New Game

Begins a new game using a new selection of words from the loaded quiz file. Because there are more words in a quiz file than are played in a single game, you can select New Game to play a game with a different selection of words out of the same quiz file.

Replay Game

Restarts the current game using the currently loaded quiz file and word selection. If you have just completed a game and wish to replay the game using the same words, this menu option will allow you to do so.

Exit

Exits Word Up!

Game

High Scores

Shows you the Word Up! High Scores list for this quiz file.

Sound Effects

Select this to turn sound effects on and off.

About Quiz

Shows information about who wrote the quiz file.

Help

Help on Word Up!

Displays this help file.

About Word Up!

Gives copyright and warranty information about Word Up!