“Mispelled” – A New and Ironic Game for Your Apple Watch

I’m always looking for ways to entertain myself.  More specifically, when I don’t have any other option.  Like, if I’m waiting at the dentist or for a doctor’s appointment.  Sure, I could read one of the germ infested magazines.  I can browse Twitter or Instagram (which is what I usually do), but sometimes I just get bored of that.  And I’ve been looking for some kind game that I doesn’t require a lot of time or skill.  Something that I can open once a week, or less often and be able to pick up where I left of.  So I was pretty excited when I saw the game “Mispelled”.    What is even more cool about the game is that it’s available exclusively on your Apple Watch.

Yes, you download the app to your phone, but you can’t play it on your phone.  You have to play it on your watch.  I wrote a piece last week around the idea of smart watch etiquette.  And whether or not it’s rude to check your watch when you receive a notification.  Smart watch games elevate this idea, because you’re not necessarily checking that your friend has messaged you, but rather you’re playing a game. Fortunately, this game doesn’t require constant action, but it does require you to answer a puzzle in a short amount of time.

I love the concept of this game.  Which is to figure out what the word is that is misspelled.  The game title is ironically misspelled, as that is the intent of the game.  What I dislike, and I will probably have this issue with all smart watch games is how you’re playing it.  On your wrist.  And it’s awkward.  Picture your arm tilted so your palm is face out.  And then add in your other hand to move the crown.  I have one further complaint as I had to set my watch up in a unique way.  Meaning, the crown for my watch is on the left side of the watch face.  Why?  Because when I’m boxing, my wrist bends and ends up turning off my activity tracker.  No I’m not doing it wrong, I do other things during the boxing workout – like push-ups.

Regardless, I think it’s a bit awkward.  Further to that, you only have a short amount of time to answer the puzzle.  But it’s not necessarily about my mind being fast enough to know the answer.  It’s about my hand being fast enough.  Which it is not.   The game itself seems like it would be interesting.  Or at least to a word geek like me.  But it is limited with the number of current categories.  There are only five.  And maybe that’s all they need, but they could definitely expand in a future update.

I will likely give this game another try, but I think I would prefer an app version as well.  I used to play a trivia game on my iPad, which I loved.  And it was the same kind of idea.  You only had so many seconds to respond to the answer.  And you also had to be faster than your opponent.  The faster you were, the more points you would get if you chose the right answer.  I just feel limited in my ability to respond quickly to the question in Mispelled.  Check it out yourself, and let me know what you think.  It’s free in the App Store.