Gaps by POWGI review for Nintendo Switch, PS5/4, Xbox Series X/One

Even though I?ve been playing every single puzzle game from Lightwood Games as they?ve come out (even if I haven?t necessarily reviewed them all), I have to admit that their last few didn?t get me all that enthused. I certainly didn?t hate games like Ladders by POWGI or Roundout, but I also didn?t find either of them as engaging as some of the publisher?s previous efforts.

This is what makes Gaps by POWGI so exciting for me. It?s the first game from this publisher in a while that I?ve actually plowed my way through. I?d pick up my Switch to do one puzzle; next thing I knew, I?d have done 15 or 20. If that?s not a sign of an addictive game, I don?t know what is.

Mind you, the structure of the game lends itself to this kind of binging. The way Gaps works is that you?re given a list of words, each missing one letter, then you find the missing letters, which in turn form a brand new word. I may not have described it well, but in practice, it?s incredibly easy to understand. On top of that, it rarely takes much time to get through a puzzle — every so often I?d come across one that took me a minute or two to finish, but more often than not, I?d finish one in thirty seconds and be on to the next one. That makes it awfully easy to get in a groove.

What?s more — and most importantly — Gaps by POWGI is a fun way to pass the time if, like me, you?re obsessed with words and spelling. Admittedly, if that describes you, it means that you?ll only get a few hours of enjoyment out of the game — but at least for those few hours, you?ll definitely be having fun with words.

Lightwood Games provided us with a Gaps by POWGI Switch code for review purposes.