This is the first word tile game where I have the choice to switch between swipe and type. Most other games that I've played are only one or the other. So I've had a chance to consider some of the pros and cons for each play style. This information can be helpful to consider depending on what your objectives are for the game or to consider how to maximize your strengths. I am primarily a swipe player. I have loose ligaments that generally cause a greater tendency to injury particularly in my hands, so I've found typing to be more strenuous. This post would deeply benefit from the contributions of other type players since I am limited physically in that department.

Type

In my experience, using a keyboard causes me to focus less on sheer word count and more on making each key press count. Some of this may have to do with pressing the "enter" key to input a word. That means that shorter words will compound on the extra key presses a person has to make. However, keyboards are easier in one respect. For longer words, I find keyboards have a greater consistency to safely executing the sequence. On swipe, longer words means there is more of a chance for my hand to slip or tense up and have to start over. I have had mixed results when it comes to longer word chains since on keyboards. If there is an associated group of words where I need to press the same sequence of keys multiple times, my joints have the chance to lock up.

I also wonder if it is possible for future versions of Boojum to implement "space" as another means to input a word. The pinky on the enter key also covers its own domain of letters, but using the thumb of the space bar could save some strain on the pinky.

Keyboards are inherently more challenging for me in this game, but there is one aspect of keyboards that have much to do in my vision of the perfect player. If a person were to have the commitment to use a steno or steno-based setup and be willing to program all of the unique and niche words for Boojum, then they would have the fastest input speed. However, this takes training to do basic stenography and even more training to create a list of shortcuts that are exclusive to this game. I think this would only be possible if we were to have a dedicated prodigy at both stenography and boggle take up the helm at a very young age. Test your kids! It might be one of them one day!

Even if we don't use a stenographic approach to boojum, keyboards also have the advantage of custom layouts. I am a simple qwerty person using my laptop to play, but other arrangements of keyboards prove to be more ergonomic and effective at increasing the sheer speed and consistency of words. I also know that the kids these days have reaction speed and reflexes programmed to their keyboards like nobody's business. I can barely follow with the advanced shooting games that they play. I have fast reflexes but terrible reaction speeds. Imagine if we had an individual from this generation pick up Boojum.

Swipe

This is my preferred method of play. Instead of key presses, swipe uses motions from the thumb, only ending once the thumb is released. This allows me to grab any and all words that are in my view, even the shorter ones with minimal delay. It also enables me to backtrack, which is helpful for when I run out of words and start guessing. Let's say that my last word was "bed." I can't think of any other words, but I decide to see if "bed" has any longer variations. I try "bedi", but the color goes red, so I move my thumb back to the "d". Then I decide to try "beda", and the color turns yellow. I continue testing the individual letters until I see the color turn green. At the end, I find that "bedazzle" was on the board much to my amazement. If I was to try this on keyboard, I would have to constantly press the "delete" key over and over again, sometimes having to rocking my right hand back and forth. The pinky also commonly has "trigger finger" so putting the pinky in constant usage increases the chances that my pinky finger will lock up.

I also have an inherent advantage to using swipe than other swipe users. I grew up as a left handed person who had to switch to right hand. In kendo, I am told there is no such thing as a left handed user, or rather it is a form of taboo to the sport. However, being left handed still has an advantage even if the practitioner is forced to use the same orthodox favoring the right hand. Similar to this sport, I use my right thumb for the primary motions, but my left hand also moves my device in accordance to the words that I'm trying to swipe over. I don't generally consider myself fast, though word games may be an exception, but combining the speed of my hands for swipe adds optimization to my speed.

There is one disadvantage to swipe that I find, which is that sometimes my phone gets stuck in "scrolling" where the page moves up and down in accordance to my thumb instead of inputting words. If I miss my swipe, I have to wait a few moments for the screen to settle before the screen is primed for swipe play. If my motions get to be too tense, my failure rate increases significantly.

Conclusion

I personally find swipe to be more effective for me. However, keyboard players may have the long term advantage and more options to optimize their play in the future. Additionally, swipe players may be focused far too much on smaller words, but playing on the keyboard could train the mind to focus more on increasing the average point yield per word. If someone does find swipe to be the easier option like myself, it may help to practice rounds on a keyboard on occasion before switching for tournament back to swipe (with some warm up of course).

For people who have swapped between the different styles, what have you observed about how it changes your play?