If you've ever played MahJong (sometimes called Shanghia), WordJong will be an easy concept to pick up. It is a cross between MahJong, where you clear away tiles by finding matching ones, and Scrabble. It is played with the stylus.

The goal is to spell words from the available tiles of the puzzle until you clear them all off the board. However, in two-player and battle modes, while that is important, it is more important to get more points than the opponent. Letters are worth 1-4 points. 1-point letters will just have the letter printed on the tile. Other letters will have 1 (2 points), 2 (3 points), or 3 (4 points) red dots on them.

3 modes are available for single players. Daily Puzzle mode will bring up a calendar, where you have the option to play the game of the day or a game from a previous date. It can store up to 2 years of records. Each day, there is a score to beat and you may re-play previous puzzles to try to improve your score.

The goal of Temple Challenge mode is to work your way up to becoming a WordJong master by completing Temple Challenge puzzles. Your rank is based on the scores of all the Temple Challenge puzzles completed. A meter is on the top screen showing how close you are to the next rank level.

Battle mode for the single player is a turn-based game played against increasingly difficult computer players, although you can choose to play against lower difficulty opponents if you want. You start out low and unlock more opponents as your score goes up.

Different options exist for multi-player mode. You can compete against a friend in "Hot Seat Play" using the same DS and taking turns. In "Local Wireless" mode, only one card is needed to play. You can download it to one person to play against each other in Battle Mode; or you can download it to up to 4 people (Gift a Puzzle) as a demo. The demo plays the same as Temple Challenge. You can also create and join rooms to play against someone that has their own game card. You can also play this game with a Wi-Fi connection to compete against players all over the world.

Special tiles and bonuses can be found in the games. Jade Tiles: green tiles that work as a multiplier in a word. If you use one it multiplies the word score by 2; 2 Jade tiles would multiply the score by 3 and so on. These tiles are only available in Temple Challenge Mode. Wild Tiles: tiles that have a butterfly on them. They work like any wild card works in other games. They are only available in Temple Challenge and Daily Puzzle modes. Ice Tiles: prevent you from "drilling down". If an Ice tile is selected the letter will move to the rack, but the ice will stay in place blocking letters underneath until the word is submitted. These are found only in Daily Puzzle mode. Bombs: can be earned by spelling long words the cover a bomb icon in the word rack. They are used to remove one available tile form the board, only available during Daily Puzzle mode. Long word bonuses: found in Daily Puzzle and Temple Challenge mode, you can earn bonuses with words that have 5 or more letters.

I like the game. I am an avid reader and love puzzle games, so this is a great game for me. I did find that I had to look up some words because some of the computer players found words that I didn't even know were words, sometimes. I guess in that way the game can also be educational. Those were mostly higher level players, and harder to win against. I still had a lot of fun playing it and had a hard time putting it down.