Word Turtle Island

Word Turtle Island is a word-based action adventure with roguelite, RPG and cozy elements. You play as Wort, the last of the Word Turtle beings, and fight with typed words to reclaim the island’s library. Portia, the Book of Portals, guides Wort as he tries to rescue the turtles, the living books and the readers caught in the catastrophe.

Story

Three troublesome creatures attacked the most powerful library in the galaxy, made the turtle-beings mysteriously disappear and captured the living Books of Power. The three bosses now send their armies to complete their takeover of Word Turtle Island. Portia escaped and searches for help; she finds Wort as he is about to leave the island in search of a different turtle path. He learns he is the last Word Turtle and must grow into the last turtle guardian to take on the mission.

Battle with words

You use letters as projectiles and words as weapons, along with special powers, to fight through nature dungeons and their word-powered dangers. Typing is optional: you can type words with a keyboard or tap them using other input options. Typing provides extra techniques, scoring feedback, ways to practise and additional slow-motion focus time for dodging danger.

Wort starts with the word capture ability and unlocks abilities as he levels up: DASH at level 5, WORD WEAPONS at level 10 and WORD POWERS, which are automatic abilities, at level 15. You can upgrade and customize 11 abilities and 13 word weapons, and level up the weapons and powers you collect. Find the 27 Books of Power to challenge the final bosses and reclaim the island.

The book sanctuary

After battles, you return to a cozy library sanctuary. Tend bookshelves to earn power-ups, bonus points and loot, create bookcases for more bonus points and loot, and talk with the rescued Books of Power. You can stay in the library as long as you like or return to battle whenever you choose. The sanctuary also lets you unlock more battle dungeons; opening the gate at 100 library points grants bonus points and loot.

Arenas and difficulty

Unlock four battle arenas to find the Books of Power. Each arena layout is designed by hand, with decorations arranged using a curated random-generation recipe for each battle. Battles also vary in their words, decorations and opponents. A mini-map, objectives menu and navigation arrow help you find your way.

Before each battle, you choose the difficulty. Low difficulty has fewer enemies and shorter words, and reduces what you lose if you are knocked out. High difficulty brings stronger foes, minibosses and big bosses, with bigger loot rewards.

Play and progression

The game includes more than 10,000 words in a curated dictionary described as playful and positive. You can play using any combination of a controller, touchscreen, mouse or keyboard. Core gameplay takes 10 to 20 hours, with replayable battles featuring varied words, decorations and opponents.