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Daenarys Spagett is not a particularly talented writer. He misspells the simplest words, screws up capitalization and commits countless crimes against good grammar. You cover his paper in red ink, and Spagett is stuck with an "F minus." It's bad news for him, but you're a winner.
In the new iOS grammar-Nazi sim The Grading Game, you work as a teacher's assistant for the vindictive Dr. Snerpus. The mad professor is hated and feared by his students, because when he decides that he doesn't like a student he makes it his mission to flunk them.
Each level begins with a ranting letter from Snerpus about the incompetency of his students. It's then your job to find as many grammar and spelling errors as possible in a paper from that student. You're allowed an extremely small time limit on each paper, so speed-reading becomes a vital skill if you're to find all the errors and give the students the worst grade possible.
The Grading Game benefits greatly from a strong sense of humor. The letters from Dr. Snerpus are usually accompanied by a clipping of a Facebook post from a student talking about how much he or she hates Snerpus. "Snerpus played his Gameboy with his sound on in class today," one fictional student whines.
Snerpus also mocks players in between levels with promises like, "Fail her and maybe I'll stop blocking your thesis proposal," or "Fail this slanderous druggie and maybe you'll get paid this month."
I'm frankly surprised by how much I like The Grading Game. It is ultimately about grading papers and looking for spelling errors, but somehow the intense time limit, scoring mechanics and various modes wrapped around that seemingly bland premise make the game super addictive. And, as someone who does a great degree of text-editing, I suspect that this simple iPhone app is making me better at my job.
I guess it's worth putting up with that old bastard Snerpus.
