Reader's Digest Launches Online, PC and iPhone Games

NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Reader's Digest, the world's largest global editorial brand, in partnership with Fit Brains, the leader in brain fitness, brings its popular Word Power™ to mobile devices and PCs with the launch of a suite of digital games focused on promoting healthy brain activity. The Word Power launch is a connected experience of digital games including Word Power: Brain Spark, the iPhone word scramble game; Word Power: Recharged, the free online edition for PCs featuring a variety of word and vocabulary challenges; and Word Power: The Green Revolution, a paid downloadable game that challenges players to solve word scrambles and vocabulary questions.

Peggy Northrop, VP, global editor-in-chief, Reader's Digest, says, "The Word Power Network is an exciting way for Reader's Digest to bring this classic editorial column to life by creating a digital, interactive experience. The Word Power™ column has been an overwhelming favorite of readers worldwide for decades and has seamlessly transformed to an application for mobile media and for players accessing the network from their home computers."

Jonathan Hills, general manager, ReadersDigest.com, adds, "The Word Power™ franchise comes on the heels of Reader's Digest's first iPhone application, LIFE IQ, which reinforces the brand's ongoing strategy to reach new customers on multiple platforms. The Word Power: Brain Spark app and the online version are the perfect next step to bringing time-honored Reader's Digest material to our readers in a fun and engaging new way."

Michael Cole, CEO of Fit Brains, adds, "The Word Power™ franchise is well known across the globe and we are excited to bring it to market with Reader's Digest in digital format. For us, Word Power taps into one of the key areas of brain fitness, which is important for a healthy lifestyle. Our goal was to take the successful essence of word power and layer in positive game themes such as green energy to make it a more engaging experience."

The Word Power: Brain Spark app is user friendly and features bright, colorful graphics with thousands of word puzzles to solve. If you're stumped on a word, you can use the shake-to-shuffle feature to keep you in the game. The Word Power: Brain Spark app, which is available for $2.99 via Apple's iTunes store, features three diverse game modes offering players hours of word-solving fun:

• Quick Word – Unscramble five- to seven-letter words, spelling additional substitute words for extra points.  
• Full Game – Unscramble full sentences and solve a variety of vocabulary challenges.
• Classic – Solve as many classic vocabulary challenges as you can in 60 seconds.  

Word Power: Recharged is a free online game, available on ReadersDigest.com and Fitbrains.com and other leading portals, which includes the Full Game and Classic game modes, in addition to an expanded Classic section with a variety of vocabulary challenges.

Word Power: The Green Revolution ($19.99) is a paid downloadable puzzle-solving brain game available for purchase at ReadersDigest.com, Fitbrains.com and other leading portals.  The game combines the best of popular word games with a progressive, Green Energy tycoon meta game. Start your very own Green Energy business and create a fleet of cutting edge energy generators to power local cities and help them clean up their act. Overthrow greedy competitors, and help start a Green Revolution!

• Plan a variety of challenging word mini-games that deliver endless hours of word-solving fun.
• Meet over a dozen unique characters, and provide power to a variety of cities across 16 different maps.
• Earn money and build up to 18 different energy generators to become a successful Green Energy Tycoon.

Within all three versions of the game, after each round is completed, players earn their "Brain Electricity Ranking," based on how quickly they correctly questions in that round. Depending on how well you play, you generate brain activity, which will power up objects ranging from an LED flashlight to a sports arena to a massive space station. Players are rewarded for exceptional performances by unlocking special Word Power Awards, which commend a game well played.  When connected to the Word Power Network, players are able to share their Word Power Awards with those playing online or from the PC version of the game. Players can also track their high score and monitor their progress from the network's leaderboard.

To purchase the Reader's Digest  Word Power: Brain Spark iPhone app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-power-brain-spark/id362977722?mt=8  

To purchase the Reader's Digest Word Power: Green Revolution:

http://www.rd.com/free-online-games-sweepstakes-and-contests

Reader's Digest reaches nearly 40 million readers each month in the United States and twice as many worldwide. Its U.S. website is www.readersdigest.com. The magazine is published in 50 editions and 21 languages and reaches readers in more than 60 countries. It is the flagship of the Reader's Digest Association, Inc., a global publisher and direct marketer of products that inform, entertain, and inspire people of all ages. Global headquarters are in Pleasantville, NY.

Fit Brains (www.fitbrains.com), is an online brain fitness platform that combines a large portfolio of casual brain games, personalized tracking & recommendations, a motivational rewards system, and a variety of social features. At Fit Brains, there's something fun for anyone looking to keep their brain sharp!

SOURCE Reader's Digest