Thank you Lightwood Games for sending us a review code!

We’ve been blessed with the opportunity to review many Powgi titles from Lightwood Games over the years. We have reviews of their titles on many platform dating back to the Wii U. Their puzzle games are fun to play while waiting in line at the doctor or at a theme park, so I always preferred their mobile platforms like the 3DS, Vita, and Switch. Alphaset by Powgi was released for the Switch in 2020 and arrived on the Xbox the following year.

Alphaset by Powgi is a mashup of traditional crossword puzzles and Mahjong. Each of the one hundred and twenty levels has twenty-six blank spaces that need to be populated with each of the letters of the alphabet. You cannot re-use any of the letters. You’ll come across opportunities that can work with multiple letter possibilities. I like how you can check for errors to make sure you didn’t make the wrong selection.

Hints are not provided in this game. Thankfully, I was able to use the process of elimination to figure out what some of the words were. On multiple instances, I brute forced and tried every letter and did an error check to see if I was right or not. I got to expand my vocabulary and learned what a baize was. It’s a textile just in case you’re wondering.

Upon completing a puzzle, you’ll be treated to a silly joke/pun. One example is: What does equality mean? Your guess is as good as mine.

You’re timed on how long it took you to solve the puzzle. You can re-complete it for a better time if desired. Otherwise, there’s not much replay value.

While playing the game, you can access the option of disabling the background music. There’s not much variety in background music. The default song is peppy, but gets repetitive if you plan on solving many of these puzzles at once.

The graphics are crisp and clean, just like previous titles. The dark mode option is a welcome addition.

Touchscreen controls work on the Switch or you can use the joystick/D-pad to move the cursor around.

Morally, there’s nothing to object to. I agree with the ESRB’s Everyone rating.

People young and old who enjoy crossword puzzles should look into Alphaset by Powgi. The price tag of $7.99 is reasonable and is bound to entertain for a couple of hours. If people offer assistance by looking over your shoulder, does the game become multiplayer?