Inkslinger

In the spirit of the classic shooting gallery.

Mr. Pesar’s masked cats pop up around Tumbleweed Pass — flick ink at them, fast. But Yai, Nok, Nuk and your friends pop up too, so read before you flick.

How it plays

Figures appear in windows and doorways, each holding a character. Type a cat’s and you ink it before it can run off with a letter. Type a friend’s by mistake and you lose a life — so the game is about reading who it is as well as what it says.

Bonus rounds: the shooting range

On every prime-numbered level (2, 3, 5, 7, 11…) you leave the town for the shooting range behind it. Paper targets slide toward you on rails, growing as they come. Each has three rings on its body, one character per ring, and a character in the bullseye on its head: one ring and the bullseye knock it down, in either order — hit more rings first if you have the time, for more points — and a new one starts from the back. Let one reach you and it costs a life.

A cat and a friend

Now and then a masked cat pops up with one of your friends beside it, each holding a character. Ink the friend and it costs a life; ink the cat and your friend hops for joy — a 100-point bonus.

Why it helps you read

Speed matters, but so does accuracy: it teaches you to read before you react.