Review: Paradise Island

Syllables by the Ocean 

Reviewed by Kate Powell

You sit there, surrounded by tropical flowers, with the sound of waves and gulls soothing you. Occasionally a luscious looking tropical drink crosses you field of vision. It could be vacation, but actually it's the elaborately visual Paradise Island, by Fitbrains.com, a game designed to exercise the language portion of your brain as well as your visual and spatial skills.

The game involves putting together syllables to create words which fit the given category. It works to expand your vocabulary (as it expands the number of syllables which work to make up the words). It also tests for speed and accuracy. In game design, it is very similar to Split Words, a happy-neuron.com game.

Paradise Island includes not only the sounds I mentioned above and the bright colors, but it also alternates each round of matching syllables with a round in which you get Scrabble-like letter tiles and you must figure out and fill in a certain number of words (which correspond to the category from the previous syllable matching round).

This variety challenges and sparks your brain. Furthermore, the continuous play and the rounds which increase in difficulty encourage the player to continue challenging their brain. Paradise Island certainly does get difficult (maybe you know the names of obscure herbs and spices - I, apparently, do not) but I never found myself ready to quit in frustration. Perhaps I owe my calm state of mind to the soothing sounds of the ocean or perhaps it's the hint options they give you to allow you to continue trying to play, even if you've become stuck?

I have no idea how many levels there are - the farthest I've made it has been level ten and I ran out of time on a five word letter scramble with only three hints (very tricky!) but in some ways this open-ended quality makes me want to keep trying. I'll keep playing with syllables by the ocean as long as those virtual drinks keep coming!