Leximan is an indie game where you use words that you make up to solve problems, like helping Dave who has been on a fire for 27 minutes.

The pen is more powerful than the sword, is a statement often made by those who have never been stabbed. But in the world Leximan, an indie pseudo-RPG where you smash words together scribblenauts style, this is a cosmic fact.

Leximan, a game by Knights of Borria (an indie developer consisting of three people), clearly borrows from games like Undertale, as its RPG style is primarily a vehicle for jokes and kitschy little minigames.

You play Leximan, an orphan wizard who holds the Lexicon, a book that spews out word fragments. You need to put them together to solve problems. You can solve problems such as:

• A muscle wizard who is looking to get swole.
• A man named Dave has been on fire 27 minutes.
• A librarian who is angry that you knocked over a bunch books.
• Making a potion
• A man named Dave, who is constantly changing into other shapes. Dave has to go through a lot of things in this game.

In the hour that I spent playing with it, this mechanic was mostly a vehicle for cute little jokes. To cool down a pot, I invoked "borean", and proceeded teleporting both a pine and a confused Viking from the icy North into the pot. Meanwhile, an irate and angry viking was knocked off their feet when I cast "boing", and proceeded bouncing with wizardly gusto.

Leximan's battle system isn't as robust as a game such As Undertale. And while the absolute hilarity you can get up to may be cute, it becomes a little repetitive. Imagine Undertale's friending system without the bullet hell. That's a pretty good description of Leximan.

The game also introduces minigames to break up its somewhat samey battles. For example, after entering "The Suspiciously Large Room", I found myself in a Vampire Survivors send-up, fighting off a bunch of flames with myself, my potion-making ally and an orbital Dave. The game introduces minigames to break up the repetitive battles. For example, I was thrown into a Vampire Survivors parody after entering "The Suspiciously large Room", where I had to fight off flames with my potion-making ally and a ghost-dog.

I'm not certain Leximan is the next big indie success--but at a price of $15 (PS12.80), and with the Steam introductory offer reducing that cost a bit, I'd recommend giving it a try if you like the above silliness.