For the past few months now I’ve been trying to review Grammarian Ltd. During that time I’ve experienced Covid-19, a birthday, a seven-year anniversary with my girlfriend and at least five colds. Each milestone – wonderful or slightly less spectacular as they may have been – has caused me to push back my review. As a result, I’ve played more of this game than I had ever expected to, all in an effort to remind myself of why I loved it so much. Thanks to those additional playthroughs, I remained sane throughout my bouts of Covid, was entertained whenever I’ve had to dogsit for my family and had something to snuggle up with whenever those pesky colds reared their ugly heads. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the past few months so much if it weren’t for the amazing Grammarian Ltd.
“It was genuinely surprising to me how crucially important Grammarian Ltd’s visuals were to my overall enjoyment.”
Grammarian Ltd is an undeniably slick game. From its delightfully charming art to its easy-to-grasp UI, every aspect of it draws you in. The simplicity in its designs and the phenomenal use of bright and vivid colours make it the understated visual marvel that it is. Through its use of punchy animations, fluid menus and bold character designs, Grammarian Ltd creates a warm and welcoming universe that miraculously makes learning about grammar immensely enjoyable.
It was genuinely surprising to me how crucially important this game’s visuals were to my overall enjoyment. They keep players engaged with something tangible to hold on to, a space and context with which to vivify the educational component. Without the cartoonish visuals injecting an immensely satisfying level of excitement into the game’s subject matter, I fear my interest would have quickly waned.
“Algorocks have managed to take an arguably essential part of our everyday lives and transform it into digestible information that’s easy to retain.”
However, it is not just the visuals that do all of the heavy lifting. Grammarian Ltd’s gameplay loop contextualises the core educational concept and helps to not only gamify the entire process but encompass it in a layer of fun. Whereas the visuals offer a superficial form of engagement, the gameplay makes it a truly enjoyable interactive experience. Ostensibly, it makes learning fun again.
Of course, this is not to diminish the satisfaction you’ll receive from learning about grammar, nor should this be an indication that the lessons learned are unimportant. What developer Algorocks have done is take an arguably essential part of our everyday lives and transform it into digestible information that’s easy to retain.
What is considerably astounding is just how comprehensive of a learning tool Grammarian Ltd is. Beneath the bells and whistles that make it a traditional video game experience is a seriously impressive guide to correcting a plethora of grammatical errors. All of its teaching is delivered at a smooth pace, ensuring that anything you learn you’ll hold on to. With mandatory boss fights – that essentially act as exams – serving as memory exercises, you’d be hard-pressed to forget much of what you’re taught throughout your time with Grammarian Ltd.
“With each action you take, you’re ensuring that you make the most of your time with Grammarian Ltd all while maintaining a consistently high level of interest.”
However, for the majority of players Grammarian Ltd will better serve as an engaging video game than an educational experience. This is, in large part, what makes it such a special game as it effortlessly feeds you valuable knowledge while immersing you in its engrossing gameplay loop. Nevertheless, what is on offer here in terms of fun is not only extraordinarily enjoyable but immensely gratifying too.
Grammarian Ltd offers players the ever-coveted one-more-turn gameplay style that’ll keep you entertained well into the night. Each burst of solving grammatical errors is just long enough that it feels rewarding yet short enough that you’ll come back for more. The interludes between each one also serve as brief distractions that give you further reason to continue playing.
Saving up for a new apartment or mode of transport that’ll give you the opportunity to attain a higher score each day becomes a focal point of your experience. On both a superficial and meaningful level you’ll quickly find yourself engrossed by the act of collecting new features and upgrades for your character. Each one comes with a practical and visual element that helps simultaneously improve your gameplay and make the entire experience more colourful.
Thus an engaging loop is created. You play more to earn more coins to unlock more functions and features to improve the core experience of solving puzzles which makes you want to play more. With each action you take, you’re ensuring that you make the most of your time with the game all while maintaining a consistently high level of interest.
“Its comprehensive lessons, intuitive gameplay loops and gorgeous visuals continue to impress me to this day.”
Grammarian Ltd isn’t the second coming of Christ. However, it is infallible proof that educational games can be extremely entertaining. Its comprehensive lessons, intuitive gameplay loops and gorgeous visuals continue to impress me to this day. If you’re even remotely interested in improving your grammar or simply in having a fun and rewarding experience, then I highly recommend picking up Grammarian Ltd.
You can purchase Grammarian Ltd via Steam for just £7.19/$9.99 as well as Android devices. There is also a demo available on Steam if you want to try before you buy.
*Disclaimer: Reviewed on PC, code was provided by the Publisher.
