 | Digital Release | PC July 29, 2009 - Origin July 30, 2009 - Steam |
| Delisting | April - May 2016 |
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| Developer | PopCap Games | |
| Publisher | PopCap Games, Electronic Arts | |
| Available On | Retail (See Below) | |
| Links | Origin Page [Archive], PopCap's Bookworm Page |
Bookworm Deluxe, Bookworm Adventures Deluxe and Bookworm Adventures: Volume 2 were delisted from numerous online platforms between April and May of 2016. They were last confirmed available on March 9th at POGO.com, on March 26th at Origin, on April 6th at Steam and May 31st on Big Fish Games.
After the release and demise of the last Bookworm title — Bookworm Heroes for iOS, released in April of 2013 and shut down December 1st, 2014 — PopCap Games, Electronic Arts and even Bookworm’s key creators (now independent) fell silent on the franchise. In interactions that included Bookworm in interviews and on Twitter they would mention other PopCap franchises by name (Plants vs Zombies, Peggle, etc) while glancing over Bookworm.
No further explanation has been given on why the games were removed although their delisting from EA’s own Origin and POGO services implies that an expired license of some sort is the cause. As late as September of 2017 PopCap’s trademark page continued to display all four Bookworm titles and EA’s international trademarks on Bookworm remain active through 2025.
Physical versions of all three titles are available for PC while the original Bookworm is available for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. Some online gaming portals like SolitaireParadise claim to offer Bookworm but several others that we checked wouldn’t actually load the game. Possibly due to an oversight, the DSiWare version of the original Bookworm remains available in North America as of September 2021.
About the Game
In the Bookworm Adventures series, players take on the role of Lex the bookworm, leading him through a series of well-known books and fictional characters which Lex must overcome by forming words from an ever-changing set of letter tiles. Making longer and more complex words gives Lex greater fighting prowess, while special “gem” letter tiles offer a range of power-up effects of their own. Various potions and treasures give Lex added power, defense, health, and dozens of other persistent or one-time abilities.
In the new sequel, wild card “rainbow” tiles, 20 new treasures and zany literary “companions” – fictional animal allies including Mother Goose and the Cheshire Cat – all provide players with even more ways to spell S-U-C-C-E-S-S. Three new mini-games augment those from the original BWA, offering a total of six different “side quest” activities to earn additional potions and power-ups.
- 3 all-new books of ten chapters each: “Fractured Fairytales,” “The Monkey King” and “Astounding Planets”!
- All-new infinite Replay mode! Pick a book, fight foes and score big points!
- 6 mini-games, including all-new “Mutant Words,” “Golden Coins” and “Word Up”!
- Battle more than 130 ferocious new foes while wielding over 20 terrific new treasures!
- Companions! Literary figures join Lex and battle by his side!
- Rainbow Tiles! New potent wild card tiles allow you to build the gigantic words of your dreams!
- Arena mode! Spell quickly to defeat your toughest enemies!
- Achievements – earn trophies, points and badges!