Letterpress (video game)
2012 word game / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Letterpress is a 2012 turn-based word game developed by Loren Brichter and published by Atebits. In the game, two players take turns creating words with letter tiles and aim to cover the most territory. A tile can be locked by claiming those surrounding it, and the game concludes when all 25 tiles are claimed. The game's development started in November 2011 after Brichter left Twitter, Inc. Focused on combining words with color, he based the game design on Boggle, color wars, and SpellTower. The gameplay gradually evolved during beta testing; in the prototype, players would avoid using unclaimed tiles, leading to excessively long games.
Letterpress | |
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Developer(s) | Loren Brichter |
Publisher(s) | Atebits, Solebon LLC[lower-alpha 1] |
Designer(s) |
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Programmer(s) | Loren Brichter |
Artist(s) | Loren Brichter |
Engine | OpenGL |
Platform(s) | iOS, OS X, Android |
Release | October 24, 2012
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Genre(s) | Word game, turn-based strategy |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Letterpress was released in October 2012 for iOS. Under Solebon LLC, the game was released in July 2016 on the Mac App Store and in August 2017 on Google Play. While it was praised for its minimalist design and strategic gameplay, it was criticized for not having a single-player mode and for its usage of Game Center. Letterpress was ranked second in the App Store's Best of 2012 list and won the 2013 Apple Design Awards. Apple designer Jony Ive took inspiration from minimalist iOS apps, including Letterpress, to produce the graphics of iOS 7.