A short TUAW review: show off your typeface knowledge with Typewar

I first heard of Typewar from a Twitter pal who challenged me to beat his score on the web-based game. I was happy to see that my 26 years of Mac work had given me a fine eye for different fonts, as I was able to easily slam my buddy to the mat. If you've never played Typewar, it's deceptively simple -- you're shown a letter and asked to choose which typeface (i.e., "Optima" or "Gill Sans") is being displayed. Your score is calculated depending on the number of correct choices you make, and you're then compared to other people who are playing the game. Every once in a while, you get pushed to a new level and a new typeface is added to the game.

Now Typewar is available for the iPhone and iPod touch, so I decided to give the game a try in a portable format. It made the move well, and it's still a fun and challenging game. The app [US$1.99, iTunes Link] is from game inventor Eldarion and developers at Massively Overrated, and does an excellent job of moving the game to the iPhone.

You log into the game using your Twitter account or create an account to join in on the fun. The account allows you to keep track of your statistics, both so you can gain bragging rights against the rest of the Typewar world and know just how awesome your typeface identification skills really are. The game moves along quickly, with short delays at each level change as Typewar downloads a new typeface to your iPhone.

If you're a designer or just a Mac or iPhone user who likes typography, you'll love Typewar. Take a look at the gallery below for more pictures of the game in action.

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