''Chicktionary'' is a word game available on the Microsoft Internet

search Searching or search may refer to: Computing technology * Search algorithm, including keyword search ** :Search algorithms * Search and optimization for problem solving in artificial intelligence * Search engine technology, software for findi ...

page. ''Chicktionary'' was developed by

Blockdot Club Bing (previously ''Live Search Club'') was a group of online word games by Microsoft that lasted from April 2007 to May 2012. Players who completed or partially completed a game earned "tickets" (originally up to 1000 per day, then later redu ...

, a Dallas, Texas based developer of

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

s and

branded entertainment In marketing, branded content (also known as branded entertainment) is content produced by an advertiser or content whose creation was funded by an advertiser. In contrast to content marketing (in which content is presented first and foremost as a m ...

applications. The game was originally developed as "Fowl Words" but later changed after it was concluded that the play on words " fowl" would be confused with "foul" and alienate potential players. The game is a variation on the game of

Anagrams An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

. It features an egg rack, replete with three-letter, four-letter, five-letter, six-letter and seven-letter sequences of

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s. Seven chickens appear at the bottom, each bearing a letter. When the player clicks on a hen, its letter is dropped into a box. Clicking on three or more hens in sequence can create a word. If it is a valid word, a sequence of eggs of the appropriate length will be filled up with the word. The goal is to fill the quotas of 11 three-letter words, 10 four-letter words, 10 five-letter words, 3 six-letter words and 1 seven letter-word. Players get 20 points for finishing a round by filling up all the sequences of eggs. There are two modes of game time and infinitude. The timed version allows players to form words within two minutes per round and there is no limit in the other mode. Points are redeemable for real prizes—20,000 points in ''Chicktionary'' could be redeemed for a copy of

Windows Vista Home Premium Windows Vista—a major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system—was available in six different product editions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate. On September 5, 2006, Microsoft announced the USD p ...

. Fox News reported that the popularity of this search engine vis-à-vis Google and Yahoo increased due to the introduction of this game. Microsoft's share of the search market increased by 13.2% in June 2007. A problem that has arisen with this game is the creation of

bot Bot may refer to: Sciences Computing and technology * Chatbot, a computer program that converses in natural language * Internet bot, a software application that runs automated tasks (scripts) over the Internet **a Spambot, an internet bot des ...

s to play and win these games and gain prizes for human bot programmers. Microsoft, however, says it detects and catches bots and nullifies their points and winnings. ''Chicktionary'' was released on the iPhone in November 2008. It was released on Android phones in August 2009. The play for redeemable points program was terminated in 2012.e 2007. A new version of game, ''Chicktionary Coop'', was released on November 2012 It was originally created by Dan Ferguson https://danferguson.com and Mike Bielinski. Both Dan and Mike were two of the original founders of Blockdot.

References

{{Reflist 2008 video games Android (operating system) games IOS games Microsoft games Video games developed in the United States Word games