Map Animation | Character Animation | FX

Words of Wonder is quite a beautiful saga based word game for Facebook and mobile. You help Watson the owl bring color and life back into the world as you advance through the map clearing word game levels. The following video is a mockup of two of my favorite chapters, showing your journey through the maps and Watson's appreciation at the end! (Program: Flash)

Words of Wonder Maps

Words of Wonder maps were very collaborative and I had the opportunity to brainstorm with some very talented artists to create the feeling of accomplishment in progressing through the world. The maps are always connected. The undersea map from the video above goes to the coastal map below. The apocalyptic robot map on the right. . .

. . .leads to an oasis in the desert as seen on the left below! The maps start out obscured in a black/white or sepia form, filling in with color with masks I animated plus engineering scripts.

Some of my favorite maps are ones that clearly show progression, either from a change in the art like the sun rise in the above right - or - like the map below, revealing a colored world that you may not expect. . .

These are some examples of how we modified the maps for mobile and later made templates that could accomodate both. By this time, some of these maps were made after Words of Wonder was sold to Rock You. But for the sake of ease, I'm putting them here!

Words of Wonder Characters

At times, you would have boss adversaries that would place obstacles in your way! This big metal giant places large iron letter blocks that take up four spaces. The flying snake on the right releases winged letter tiles to randomly cover your existing tiles.

Words of Wonder FX

Here are some fx I animated - these are powerups, obstacles, and features.