Fowl Words is, as advertised, a word game. The Fowl part? Letter-laying chickens.

It's one of those "how many words can you make from these letters" games. Each chicken is a letter. Above the chickens is an egg crate. Every time you click on a chicken, it clucks. When you complete a word and press "Enter," the word goes into its position in the crate.

Even at the beginning level, you've got a big crate to fill. But it's the chickens (and the timer) that keep you going. They're so darn ridiculous.

Compared to other word games, like my recently reviewed Word Find game Letter Lasso and much-praised, Boggle-like Bookworm, Fowl Words is far less innovative. It doesn't add a new play principle. But the sheer silliness of those clucking chickens, along with the ease and functionality of the interface, is really all it takes to make it into a valuable addition to our collection of virtual word games.

One final observation: unlike many interactive computer games, virtual word games invite participation from observers as well as mousers. This makes them a wonderful resource for group play. Even though only one person is actually doing the clicking, everyone can join in the clucking.