History VideoGame / BookwormAdventures

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.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Polydamas, technically.

* 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.

* LivingMacGuffin: Cassandra in the first game.
** As it turns out, [[spoiler: the Magic Pen can talk]].
* 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.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[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.]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Bookworm Heroes'', a multiplayer mobile game, can be seen as this.

* StandardStatusEffects: Enemies can poison, stun, petrify, burn, cut, freeze and/or depower Lex, sometimes 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.

* BowtiesAreCool: Lex's red bowtie of course.

* LooksLikeOrlok: Dracula.

** The names of several chapters don't even try to hide which works they were inspired by ([[TheTimeMachine "The Time Device"]] and [[Literature/ASoundOfThunder "The Sound of Lightning"]], to name two of the better examples).

* ActionGirl: The mysterious assassin encountered at the beginning of ''Arabian Knight''.
** The fallen huntress hero from ''Lexonomicon''.

* 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 ([[CaptainObvious 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".

As Lex progresses through each book chapter (ten per book), the monsters (in the first book, Oedipus Lex, based on 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.

* SadlyMythtaken: For some reason, ''Oedipus Lex'' (based on ClassicalMythology) has krakens (Scandinavia), banshees (Ireland), griffins (Mesopotamia) and manticores (India).

Green bookworm Lex, the mascot of the previous 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.

A sequel, ''Bookworm Adventures Volume 2'', was released in 2009. The three books in this installment are Fractured Fairytales (which interestingly includes Alice in Wonderland), 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.

Green bookworm Lex, the mascot of the previous PopCap game ''VideoGame/{{Bookworm}}'', is back for more word-creating action in ''Bookworm Adventures'', but with [[RPGElements RPG-style combat]] added to the mix.

A sequel, ''Bookworm Adventures Volume 2'', was released in 2009. The three books in this installment are Fractured Fairytales (which interestingly includes Alice in Wonderland), The Monkey King (based on ChineseMythology), and Astounding Planet (based on ScienceFiction). It also differs in adding companions that perform a beneficial action every four turns.

** Emerald and Granite tiles as well. Emerald tiles heal you a bit, and Granite weakens your enemy.

* AwesomeYetPractical: You ''might'' want to hoard some of the more powerful gem tiles for boss battles, but there's no harm in putting a couple of the lower-ranked ones into your words as long-enough words will automatically give you more gem tiles. Likewise, treasures that boost gem effects (the Scimitar of Justice in the original and the Gumdrop Necklace/Collapsible Iron Rod in ''Volume 2'') work ''really'' well.
* BadFuture: In ''Volume 2''.

* WhamLine: "I have seen those names... on tombstones." [[spoiler:Turns out he's wrong, but still.]]

Lex's adventures begin with a quest: save [[DistressedDamsel 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 4x4 grid of letters. The longer the words, the more powerful Lex's attacks are.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: It's perhaps the only [=E10+=] rated game in which a BlobMonster with a southern accent exclaims "Now that there's a fine can of whoopass!". [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Then again, maybe it's the only video game at all with that.]]

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: After fighting ''Volume 1'''s final boss, he asks Lex for his last words. [[spoiler: Lex suggests "hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian", which is sufficient for a final KamehameHadoken.]]

* ShoutOut: [[ThePhantomOfTheOpera There's a phantom interested in musical theater]].

* StealthPun: Frankenstein's Castle is home to a multi-limbed monster named [[SpiderMan Parkerstein]] and [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Arnoldstein]] who would "do well in politics". The chapter title also suggests there's [[RockyHorrorPictureShow a light there]].

* WhamLine: "I have seen those names… on tombstones." [[spoiler:Turns out he's wrong, but still.]]

!!'''This game contains the tropes:'''

A sequel, Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 was released in 2009. The three books in this installment are Fractured Fairytales (which interestingly includes Alice in Wonderland), The Monkey King (based on ChineseMythology), and Astounding Planet (based on ScienceFiction). It also differs in adding companions that perform a beneficial action every four turns.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: H. G. Wells in the sequel.

* AliensStealCattle: There's one who drops a cow on Lex.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The ''Lexonomicon'' boss theme is similar to the theme music for ''Dark Bunny'', a ShowWithinAShow in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''.

* BubblegloopSwamp: The Lernean Swamp & the Quagmire, both from the original.