Line #127 VideoGame/BookwormAdventures


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/managed_to_get_it_to_work.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The Intro]]
3	[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote: Some gameplay from ''Vol 2'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_butterfly_boss.png[[/labelnote]]]]
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5	Green [[LiteralBookworm bookworm]] Lex, the mascot of the previous [[Creator/PopCapGames PopCap game]] ''VideoGame/{{Bookworm}}'', is back for more word-creating action in 2006's ''Bookworm Adventures'', but with [[RPGElements RPG-style combat]] added to the mix.
6
7	Lex's adventures begin with a quest: save [[DamselInDistress Cassandra the oracle]], who has been kidnapped by an unknown evil. With the aid of Professor Codex's magic pen, he jumps into the books of the Great Library to search for her, defeating enemies along the way with words created from a 4×4 grid of letters. The longer the words, the more powerful Lex's attacks are.
8
9	As Lex progresses through each book chapter (ten per book), the monsters (in the first book, Oedipus Lex, based on Myth/ClassicalMythology, with the second, Arabian Knight, of ''Literature/ArabianNights'' and the third, Lexonomicon, of GothicHorror) get more difficult, with a boss fight at the end of every chapter. Fortunately, Lex also becomes stronger; he occasionally levels up in HP, attack, or defense and obtains a nifty treasure at the end of every chapter with various beneficial effects. Additionally, every book has optional {{minigame}}s, unlocked once Lex has completed a certain number of chapters, that can be played for prizes.
10
11	The plot also thickens the further Lex seems to get in his quest; while it's fairly linear and relatively simplistic compared to pure [=RPGs=], each book adds one or two twists to it and the resulting plot is a bit more complex than you would expect of a game with a bookworm as the main character.
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13	Of course, ''Bookworm'''s major appeal is the word making, and ''Bookworm Adventures'' upholds that tradition very, very much with bonus sparkly gem tiles and much better chances to piece together 10+ words. A free trial and/or purchase of the game is available [[http://www.popcap.com/games/bookwormadventures here]].
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15	A sequel, ''Bookworm Adventures Volume 2'', was released in 2009. The three books in this installment are Fractured Fairytales (which interestingly includes ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''), The Monkey King (based on Myth/ChineseMythology), and Astounding Planet (based on ScienceFiction). It also differs in adding companions that perform a beneficial action every four turns and rainbow tiles that function as wildcards.
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17	Unfortunately, both games have been delisted since 2016, and it is still not exactly known why [=PopCap=] games delisted them, only claiming that the ''Bookworm'' series are retired from sales. In fact, [=PopCap=] delisted all sales related to the Bookworm series.
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19	----
20	!!'''This game contains examples of:'''
21
22	* AbnormalLimbRotationRange: Polyphemus can apparently move his arms in a complete circle.
23	* ActionizedSequel: The original game was nothing more than a word-forming puzzle game. The Bookworm Adventures games on the other hand, have you using said word-forming prowess to turn words into weapons and magic to battle famous characters from literature and history.
24	* ArabianNightsDays: The theme of the second book of the first game.
25	* AliensStealCattle: There's one who drops a cow on Lex in ''Volume 2''.
26	* AlliterativeName: Among others, the malicious magistrate who (indirectly) points Lex towards Dracula.
27	* AncientGrome: ''Oedipus Lex'', otherwise based on Greek myth, contains references to Hercules (should be Heracles).
28	* AncientTomb: The Tomb of the Ancients.
29	* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Codex is trapped inside the Magic Pen itself at the end of the first game.]]
30	* AnimatedArmor: Maladin apparently has some for sale.
31	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: From ''Volume 2'':
32	-->The tailless tiger of Wushan was feared by all, peasant and king alike. It ran fast, so fast, and was considered weird by most observers.
33	* ArtEvolution: ''Volume 2'' uses a more cartoonlike style than its predecessor.
34	* AstralFinale: ''Astounding Planet'', the final book of ''Volume 2''.
35	* AwesomeButImpractical: In general, any treasure you have to go of of your way to use (''Volume 2'' has fewer of these).
36	* BadassBookworm: Lex, in the most literal form ever.
37	* BadassCrew: Lex & his companions in ''Volume 2''.
38	* BagOfSpilling: To a certain extent; Lex loses levels and most of his treasures in the sequel (as well as a ten-of-each potion limit), but retains the ability to use gem tiles. However, several treasures in the sequel have functions nearly identical to some from the original.
39	* BearsAreBadNews: In ''Volume 2'', as the Papa Bear will steal your jeweled tiles with his "pilfer" ability. Adding insult to injury, he'll smash your tiles, too.
40	* BerserkButton: Lex faces almost every situation with a cheery attitude...[[spoiler:until he sees someone burning books.]]
41	* BigBad: [[spoiler:[[TreacherousAdvisor Professor Codex]]]] in the first game and [[spoiler:[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Bigger Brother]]]] in the second.
42	* BigBrotherIsWatching: [[spoiler:The BigBad of ''Volume 2''.]]
43	* BigNo: Lex does this three times: when [[spoiler:Codex]] kidnaps Cassandra, when he [[spoiler:correctly]] refuses to believe Cassandra & Codex have died & when he realizes [[EarthAllAlong he's on Earth]].
44	* BittersweetEnding: In ''Bookworm Adventures Volume 2'', [[spoiler:the Lex (and companions) get to the Magic Pen, but, unfortunately, it's broken down the middle and Lex doesn't have enough time to fix it, though, before self-destructing, the Pen sacrifices itself to save the Great Library]].
45	* BizarreBazaar: The Bazaar of the Bizarre, where Lex reencounters Maladin.
46	* BlandNameProduct: Wikipedia Galactica.
47	* BlobMonster: Several are encountered across the first volume.
48	* BookBurning: {{Handwave}}d by [[spoiler:Bigger Brother]] in ''Volume 2'':
49	-->We do not burn. We extract. We tear the living story from each page and [[spoiler:feed it to our Engine]]. There will be no word, dream or leap of heart that is not ours.
50	* BoringButPractical: Any item that disables status effects. They aren't as flashy as some AwesomeButImpractical items, but you will need them later on.
51	** Emerald and Garnet tiles as well. Emerald tiles heal you a bit, and Garnet weakens your enemy.
52	* BossBattle: Happens once per chapter for most of the time, and usually they have gimmicks similar to the enemies in the same chapter.
53	* BossOnlyLevel: Three in the first game (the Hydra, the Sphinx and [[spoiler:Codex]]) and four in the second (the Caterpillar, the Monkey King, the Dancebots and [[spoiler:the Machine]]).
54	* BubblegloopSwamp: The Lernean Swamp & the Quagmire, both from the original.
55	* ButterflyOfDoom: A boss in ''Volume 2'', based of Bradbury's "A Sound Of Thunder".
56	--->''"It is imperative that clients not disturb the butterfly."''
57	* {{Cap}}: ''Volume 2'' adds a ten-of-each-potion limit.
58	* CarnivoreConfusion: [[spoiler:A DoubleSubversion; Codex, a bird, is a TreacherousAdvisor to Lex, a worm.]]
59	* CassandraTruth: Dracula makes an allusion to [[spoiler:Codex's evil nature]]. Lex, of course, has none of it.
60	* CharacterTitle: ''The Monkey King'', the second book of ''Volume 2''.
61	* TheChosenOne: Lex is revealed to be this near the end of the first game.
62	* ContinuityNod: Two of these in ''Volume 2'' - Codex's magic pen is even more of a PlotDevice than in the first game, and the book enumeration continues, starting with "book 4".
63	* ClassicalChimera: Lex encounters one in ''Oedipus Lex''.
64	-->'''Lex''': It's like [[MixAndMatchCritter a zoo exploded in here!]]
65	* CreativeClosingCredits: In both games, the credits are the names of the people involved in making the game being attacked by (and then defeating) various enemies from the game. The first game even has music especially for the credits (''Volume 2'' doesn't, but the ''Astounding Planet'' main theme works surprisingly well in this regard).
66	* CreepyCemetery: The Graveyard of Lost Hopes.
67	* CunningLinguist: Polyphemus.
68	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: When Lex dies, he's merely transported back to the beginning of the chapter he died in. The game says that you lose the potions you used, but you'd have lost them anyway even if you had survived (them having been used, after all). Plus, you don't lose experience ''and'' you get the opportunity to replay minigames to win additional potions and/or gem tiles if you're far enough in the book, which means that you can deliberately throw the boss fight in a late chapter of a book, play the minigames to get more potions and gem tiles, then go back to that chapter and defeat all enemies for more experience, and even throw the boss fight ''again'' to stock up on more potions and experience. When you die, Cassandra (Mother Goose in ''Volume 2'') even says that "dying is a minor setback".
69	* DefeatEqualsFriendship: The Monkey King, though, that's because he has to, and [[spoiler:Skeletrox]], as he's been put in "reset mode".
70	* DemBones: Dracula has an army of skeletal warriors, which oddly has a Mummy as the commander.
71	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler:Lex defeats TheGrimReaper.]] In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxoUFJPwWYE demo]] of the game he beats Odin.
72	* {{Dracula}}: The [[spoiler:alleged]] BigBad of the first game.
73	* DragonsUpTheYinYang: ''The Monkey King''.
74	* {{Dystopia}}: Near the end of ''Volume 2''.
75	* EarthAllAlong: Near the beginning of ''Astounding Planet'' in ''Volume 2''.
76	* EarlyBirdBoss: It quite says that this game is difficult when Charbydis, the boss of the third chapter in the original game, not only has 8 hearts, but also an attack that can stun Lex.
77	* EgomaniacHunter: One of the centaurs.
78	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: There are a lot of things that want our green hero dead.
79	* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Codex, the original holder of the Magic pen, uses Lex to take the creatures Lex takes out for himself to kill him off.]]
80	* EvilChef: One of the troglocks in ''Volume 2''.
81	* EvilDoppelganger:
82	** [[PlayedWith Played with]] in the first game with Mirage Xel since, as his name states, he's just a mirage.
83	** Played more straight in ''Volume'' 2 with [[spoiler:Evilex, then later [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when it's revealed that he was Lex from the future.]]
84	* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:Professor Codex appears to be happy to help Lex rescue Cassandra, but it turns out that he had reasons of his own to help Lex make it through all the books, as detailed below in The Reveal.]] Also, the entire events of the second game are a plot to [[spoiler:create a StableTimeLoop assuring Bigger Brother power.]]
85	* FarEast: Book 5 of ''Volume 2'', ''The Monkey King'', takes place in a place similar to ancient China.
86	* FeatherFingers: Codex often uses these.
87	* FeatheredFiend: Several birds are encountered as enemies ([[spoiler:Codex]] being the most notable).
88	* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:Professor Codex]] in the first game and [[spoiler:the Rift Engine]] in the second.
89	* FireIceLightning: The game seems to consider these (plus poison) as the main elements.
90	* FishPeople: The Creature is an anthropomorphic fish.
91	* FlyingDutchman: In Chapter 2 of "Lexonomicon", the Final Boss is called the Eternal Wanderer. Based on the lantern the Boss carries, the Boss is probably based on Jack O' Lantern.
92	* ForcedTutorial: The prologue in ''Volume 2'' requires you to do a morning warm-up with Stuffy.
93	* ForgedByTheGods: Hephaestus gives Lex his gem tiles.
94	* FracturedFairytale: Basically the name of ''Volume 2'''s first book.
95	* FrankensteinsMonster: Lex defeats him, mistaking him for Dracula. He then encounters (a rightfully upset) Dr. Frankenstein who points him in the right direction.
96	* GameFace: The witch in ''Volume 2'' has a more grotesque face when attacking.
97	%%* GenieInABottle: A plot point in the first game.
98	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: The Queen of Hearts from ''Volume 2''. [[spoiler:Though she's actually BrainwashedAndCrazy.]]
99	* TheGrimReaper: He [[spoiler:falsely]] claims to Lex that Cassandra & Codex have died.
100	* GuideDangIt: Sometime's Lex's advice on what attacks the enemies have on the treasure screen don't properly tell what attacks the enemies have correctly, where they border on being misleading. Bookworm 2 frequently only mentions one type of attack.
101	** Book 2, Chapter 7: It mentions a "dose of mirage madness." Common attacks here are Tile Smash, Stun and Regeneration
102	** Book 3, Chapter 9: Bleed is not mentioned despite every enemy having a bleed attack.
103	** Book 4, Chapter 9: Lex doesn't warn about stun attacks, despite how every enemy has a stun attack. This is especially bad when the Just Right Porridge is there to help provide stun immunity.
104	** Book 5, Chapter 8: Cursed Tiles, but Burn is also very common.
105	** Book 6, Chapter 4: Stasis, but Burn and Stun are also common. The former can possibly be countered by The Monkey King's Cloud Form, and the latter by Just Right Porridge.
106	** Book 6, Chapter 7: EXTREME DANCING--but common attacks here include Stun, Burn and Power Down.
107	* GuiltBasedGaming: The "Do you want to quit?" dialog box shows a sad-eyed Lex saying "Don't leave me!" and asks you if you can really refuse a cute face like that.
108	* {{Hellhound}}: Cerberus, one of the early bosses in the original.
109	* TheHero: Lex.
110	* HeroicBSOD: Happens to Lex in the first game when he believes that Cassandra and Professor Codex are dead, after seeing their [[spoiler:fake]] graves. For both this level and the following one, his sprite changes from jolly and smug to anxious and uneasy.
111	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:The Magic Pen. After Lex beats the Machine, the Magic Pen greets him, explains that it's broken down the middle, and sacrifices itself to bring back the Great Library]]
112	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Creator/HGWells in the sequel. Also UsefulNotes/WongFeiHung.
113	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The defeat animations of various enemies:
114	** Polydamas is impaled with his own sword when defeated.
115	** A bookburner in the sequel is set on fire.
116	** A sword swallower gets stabbed with his own swords.
117	** A pirate's head is blown off with his own cannon.
118	* InsideAComputerSystem: ''Volume 2'' has a ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}''- inspired chapter called "Virtually a World".
119	* InstantRoast: Happens to the animals on Old [=MacDonald=]'s farm when Lex beats them.
120	* InventoryManagementPuzzle: Lex can only carry three treasures at a time (two treasures & a companion in ''Volume 2''). The total number of treasures is eighteen (thirteen with six companions in ''Volume 2'').
121	* JustifiedTutorial: The first few chapters are essentially Cassandra sending psychic visions to teach Lex the basics of gameplay. Volume 2's tutorial is Lex doing morning training.
122	* {{Kaiju}}: The Mama Roc, who is so massive only her feet are even seen. Her chick, fought earlier as a regular enemy, is as large as the presumably adult Symphtalian Birds.
123	* KamehameHadoken: Lex at the very end of the first game (although it comes out his mouth, considering he doesn't have hands).
124	* LastOfHisKind: The manticore claims to be this. We don't know if he's telling the truth or not.
125	* LegacyBossBattle: Four bosses from the original return in ''Volume 2'' [[spoiler:in chapter 5 of the 6th book: Anna Karenina, Cyrano, Odysseus, and Moby Dick. After them, comes the chapter's last boss: Previous Lex, [[ZeroEffortBoss whose life bar is only 4 hearts]].]]
126	* LiteralBookworm:
127	** We have the titular bookworm Lex, who is an intelligent green bookworm with glasses and a red bowtie. The premise of the game is to feed Lex by creating words with the tiles given to you.
128	** We also have Mirage Xel. Mirage Xel is an EvilCounterpart version of Lex (although Xel says Lex is the evil version) and also is real as a HollywoodMirage. Xel is [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack purple]], wears a black tie and black [[EvilIsAngular pointy]] glasses, and he's the boss of Chapter 7 of Book 2 as the guardian of the Robe of the Unseen.
129	* LivingMacGuffin:
130	** Cassandra in the first game.
131	** As it turns out at the end of the second game, [[spoiler:the Magic Pen can talk]].
132	* LoadingScreen: When loading a world, there are humorous little loading phrases such as "Animating things" and "Dividing by 0". Also when the game starts up, there are letter tiles spelling out "Loading" that Lex chomps through. This concept may reference the game's predecessor, ''Bookworm''.
133	* LooksLikeOrlok: Dracula, though he dresses more like a ClassicalMovieVampire.
134	* MadScientistLaboratory: Dr. Frankenstein's castle.
135	* TheMedic: Mother Goose in ''Volume 2'' (in terms of giving potions) and Cheshire Cat (for healing status ailments).
136	* {{Medusa}}: The final boss of ''Oedipus Lex''.
137	* MineralMacGuffin: You get shiny gem tiles when you form long-enough words, and you can use them in words to make them more powerful and damaging.
138	* MiniGame: Moxie's Minigame Hut.
139	* TheMole: [[spoiler:Maladin & Codex.]]
140	* TheMonolith: The first boss of Astounding Planet in ''Volume 2''.
141	* MonsterCompendium: The Tome of Knowledge records about all the foes that Lex has encountered so far.
142	* MrExposition: In ''Volume 2'', the Cheshire Cat explains otherwise illogical plot points, such as Lex breathing underwater with the Super Sutra and the spaceship flying itself.
143	* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Shaitan.
144	** Although they can't really be used as arms, [[spoiler:Bigger Brother]] in ''Volume 2'' has multiple robotic arms with security cameras at the end.
145	* {{Mummy}}: In addition to the Tomb of Ages containing plenty, Dracula has apparently employed one as one of his minions.
146	* NameMcAdjective: In the first game Lex calls Maladin "Mr. Tricky [=McTricksterman=]" when he tries to talk Lex out of taking the genie lamp.
147	* NatureSpirit: Several in the first game.
148	* {{Necromancer}}: An enemy in the first game.
149	* NewGamePlus: Adventure Replay in ''Volume 2'' gives you access to all treasures & companions from the beginning.
150	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
151	** [[spoiler:Lex's quest to save Cassandra turns out to only have furthered the Big Bad's plans. Fortunately, he gets a final boss battle to set everything right.]]
152	** [[spoiler:Happens ''again'' in Volume 2. The reason why Bigger Brother's in control? Because when Lex went back in time to stop all of this, he dropped Codex's magic pen in the past!]]
153	* NintendoHard: Although one could also say that it simply has a large amount of fake difficulty. Thankfully the developers were at least partly aware of this, see DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist above.
154	* OurBansheesAreLouder: And for some reason, they're in the Greek pantheon.
155	* OurHydrasAreDifferent: A seven-headed one is encountered as a boss. Each head has a different elemental BreathWeapon, with the last one, the so-called "Main Head", being able to lock tiles.
156	* OurGargoylesRock: Two are encountered in the first game.
157	* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: The first monster Lex encounters in Dracula's castle.
158	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: There's a wereram, a wereboar & a werehawk.
159	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Lex is told that [[spoiler:Cassandra and Codex are both dead,]] he loses all of his cheerful attitude and falls into despair. He grows so upset that he even says he wants to ''crawl into a hole and die.''
160	* PaletteSwap: Many instances. Every dog/wolf enemy shares the same model, as well as the bird enemies, the snake enemies and the BlobMonster enemies. Some are pieced together from different previous enemies, such as Scylla and the Chimera, for example.
161	* {{Pirate}}: Lex fights a whole shipful. Amusingly, Sinbad didn't recognize them at first.
162	* PlotDevice: Prof. Codex's magic pen. More prominent in ''Volume 2''.
163	* PreAsskickingOneLiner: After fighting ''Volume 1'''s final boss, he asks Lex for his last words. [[spoiler:Lex suggests "hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian", which is sufficient for him to exclaim “autological!” and a final KamehameHadoken.]] Best part? [[spoiler:It means “about or pertaining to very long words”; “autological” means “self-referential”.]]
164	* {{Prequel}}: According to WordOfGod, the game is this to ''Bookworm''.
165	* RankInflation: This game has 7 different ranks for SurplusDamageBonus, each with it's different increasingly better gem reward and harder overkill damage requirement: Whomped (awards Amethyst tile, requires 2 hearts), Crushed (Emerald, 3 hearts), Vanquished (Garnet, 5 hearts), Destroyed (Sapphire, 8 hearts), Decimated (Ruby, 11 hearts), Obilerated (Crystal, 15 hearts), and finally, Annihilated (Diamond, ''20 hearts'').
166	* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Lex learns near the end of the game that the Big Bad who kidnapped Cassandra wasn't Dracula, but ''Professor Codex,'' who used his imprisonment of Cassandra (and Dracula's apparent kidnapping of him) to maneuver Lex into fighting the books' monsters and unknowingly breaking the chains of fiction that kept them in the books. Thanks to Lex [[NiceJobBreakingItHero doing such a great job]] with these monsters, Codex can now control them as his minions.]]
167	** In ''Volume 2'', [[spoiler:there is no Evilex. Lex was tricked into a StableTimeLoop by Bigger Brother forces to steal the Magic Pen from his past self and drop it in the distant past of Astounding Planet, where it would be found and used by Bigger Brother to discover the Great Library, steal all of its books, extract all of their contents and feed it into the Machine, with the objective of controlling everything.]]
168	* RiddleMeThis: The Sphinx battle consists entirely of this, as the goal is to spell the exact word she wants.
169	* RiddlingSphinx: See above.
170	* RPGElements: Most of the major ones are present.
171	* SadlyMythtaken: For some reason, ''Oedipus Lex'' (based on Myth/ClassicalMythology) has krakens (Scandinavia), banshees (Ireland), griffins (Mesopotamia) and manticores (India).
172	** The basilisk has taken on a variety of forms (including the cockatrice, an avian variant), but a six-legged reptile isn't one of them.
173	* SequelHook: ''Volume 2'' ends with "For now… The end!", although it was presently unknown whether or not there will be a third installment.
174	* SevenDeadlySins: The second chapter of Book 5 sees Lex go up against five monks representing one of the sins- lust and envy get left out.
175	* ShoutOut: [[Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera There's a phantom interested in musical theater.]]
176	** The names of several chapters don't even try to hide which works they were inspired by ([[Literature/TheTimeMachine "The Time Device"]] and [[Literature/ASoundOfThunder "The Sound of Lightning"]], to name two of the better examples).
177	** The final book of the first game is called [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lexonomicon]].
178	** In the Dystopia chapter of ''Volume 2'', we get shoutouts to ''Literature/Fahrenheit451'' (book burning) and ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' (Bigger Brother and Thought Cop),
179	* ShownTheirWork: The sequel's Tome of Knowledge lists the literary inspiration for each enemy.
180	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Mother Goose is Lex's only female companion in ''Volume 2''.
181	* StandardSciFiSetting: Astounding Planet from ''Volume 2'' has extraterrestrials, mutants, future humans, robots, time travel, virtual beings and a dystopia.
182	* StatusBuff: Drinking a green potion increases the power of Lex's next word-based attack. However, enemies can also power themselves up.
183	* StatusEffects: Enemies can poison, stun, petrify, burn, cut, freeze and/or depower Lex, sometimes with more than one effect in a single attack. On the other hand, Lex can poison, burn, depower and/or freeze them right back with the right types of gem tiles, cut them with specific treasures, stun them with the right treasure or companion, and purify himself of all negative status effects with a blue potion, crystal tile or a specific companion. Some treasures also protect him from specific effects, but usually not all the time.
184	* StealthPun: Frankenstein's Castle is home to a multi-limbed monster named [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Parkerstein]] and Creator/{{Arnold\|Schwarzenegger}}stein who would "do well in politics". The chapter title also suggests there's [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow a light there]].
185	* StewedAlive: In the second game Lex frees Mother Goose from the Big Bad Wolf's vegetable-filled cauldron.
186	* SuddenlyVoiced: In a sense. Lex is the only character with a voice we hear (as opposed to being limited to dialog boxes), but it's revealed at the end of ''Volume 2'' that [[spoiler:the Magic Pen]] can talk.
187	* SurplusDamageBonus: The game gives extra gem tiles for doing enough surplus damage, and this depends on the amount of overkill damage that finished off an enemy.
188	* TalkingAnimal: Every enemy, including animals, gets to spout puns and the like.
189	* {{Technobabble}}: In ''Volume 2'', Skeletrox is a literal example; [[spoiler:until his defeat]], he actually speaks in programming language (one of his first phrases is "IF Lexworm THEN destroy!").
190	* TempleOfDoom: Delphi in the first game and Temple Haunt in the second.
191	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: After Lex receives Hephaestus's gift, he can gain bonus gem tiles if he finishes off an enemy with a much larger amount of damage than needed.
192	* TimeTravel: A plot point in ''Volume 2'', reached around very late in the game in the final book.
193	* [[TrappedInTVLand Trapped in Literature Land]]: Caused by rifts only the Magic Pen and its guardian can solve.
194	* TreacherousAdvisor:[[spoiler:Professor Codex, who turns out to be the BigBad of the first game.]]
195	* TrueCompanions: Quite an impressive menagerie over the course of ''Volume 2''.
196	%%* TwistEnding: See The Reveal above.
197	* {{Uberwald}}: ''Lexonomicon'' being inspired by ''Dracula'' and ''Frankenstein''.
198	* UnderTheSea: A chapter in ''Volume 2''. Averted as the dynamics are exactly the same as the rest of the game. The Dragon King is fought [[UnderwaterBossBattle underwater]]. Again, the dynamics are no different.
199	* UnsoundEffect: In the opening animation for the second game, Lex gets out of bed with an “Awaken!” effect.
200	* VideoGameCaringPotential: Lex, during the "Graveyard of Lost Hopes" chapter, when he [[spoiler:thinks Cassandra and Codex are dead]]. Seeing his heartbroken expression would have you want to win those levels to see him cheer up again.
201	* VillainsNeverLie: Twice in the first game:
202	** When Maladin offers Lex to take any of his wares for free in exchange for mercy after finally being cornered, Lex selects a lamp that later turns out to hold a [[SealedEvilInACan number of violent genies]]. Maladin is [[EvenEvilHasStandards aghast at the possibility of the genies getting out and begs Lex to take anything else]], but Lex thinks this is just another one of Maladin's cons and takes it anyway.
203	** Dracula tries to inform Lex that [[spoiler:Codex is playing him for a fool]], but Lex isn't willing to believe the guy responsible for killing off the four heroes whose ghosts just brought him out of a HeroicBSOD.
204	* TheVoice: Queen Scheherazade for the vast majority of ''Arabian Knight''.
205	* TheWatson: Lex constantly asks questions to everyone during in-game, as in to represent some players who ask questions.
206	* WakeUpCallBoss:
207	** Medusa at the end of book 1 of ''Volume 1''. If you've successfully beaten every enemy on the first try in the first part of the game, congratulations! With the experience you arrive at Medusa with and without the right defensive item, Medusa can petrify you and kill you from maximum hitpoints in a single turn.
208	** The Queen of Hearts, the [[DiscOneFinalBoss final boss of the first book]] of ''Volume 2'', is also this: while unlike Medusa she only has a regular stun attack, she also has another attack that greatly damages Lex, another attack that steals a potion, and can strengthen her next attack. She also has 30 hearts (the maximum possible) as well.
209	* WarmUpBoss: ''Volume 2'' technically has a tutorial boss: Stuffy, whose main purpose is to get the player into the basics of playing (if they haven't already know how to play). The game even puts "MORNING WARM UP!" words wrapping in a circle around Stuffy.
210	* WeCanRuleTogether: Dracula makes this offer in the first game. Lex refuses.
211	* WhamLine: "I have seen those names… [[spoiler:on tombstones." Turns out he's wrong, but still.]]
212	* WhenTreesAttack: The Tree Demon in ''Volume 2''.
213	* WolfMan: One of the bosses in ''Volume 1'', on book 3, is literally called "The Wolf-Man". There's also the Big Bad Wolf himself in the sequel, in chapter 3 of book 4.
214	* WordsCanBreakMyBones: Every monster defeated by Lex will have to explain to their family and friends that they were beaten like a red-headed stepchild by the words of a bespectacled green worm with a bowtie. And they couldn't even break his glasses!
215	* WorstWhateverEver: The second-to-last chapter of ''Volume 2'' is called "Worst Dystopia Ever".
216	* ZeroEffortBoss: [[spoiler:Previous Lex]] in ''Volume 2'', has only a single attack that has no additional effects, and a health bar of only 4 hearts. To put in comparison, you fight [[LegacyBossBattle 4 bosses from ''Volume 1'']] that have at least 20 hearts before [[spoiler:Previous Lex]]. Heck, it is very easy to score a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill massive overkill that is "Annihilated!"]] on this boss.

Context VideoGame / BookwormAdventures