If you’re a sucker for words (and of course you are), there’s a whole host of absolutely fun games to play on your phone. Beyond kid’s games, there are so many challenging word game apps out there that are meant for adults to play (and play again). Take part in the daily New York Times crossword, build an army of dancing bears, or stomp your friends with your vocabulary skills with the best of the best word game apps available in 2020.
1. Wordscapes
Type of game: A crossword style game, combined with word search
Devices: iOS | Android | Windows
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
In Reading Color Newsletter
A weekly newsletter focusing on literature by and about people of color!
Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.
By signing up you agree to our terms of use
Why you’ll love it: This game is easy at first, but quickly gets harder over time. It also only takes a few minutes to play each round, so it’s great for some quick brain stretching during the day to improve your vocabulary. And, the soothing backgrounds are pretty to look at and the game’s interface is easy to use.
2. Alphabear
Type of game: A wholly original word/strategy game, with elements of word search
Devices: iOS | Android
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: With cute dancing bears, lots of vocabulary building, and a few gamified elements that are missing in other word game apps (like power-ups and boss fights), Alphabear is an absolute blast to play. You not only try to make words, you also help your bears get bigger for more points. (See also, the sequel Alphabear 2.)
3. TypeShift
Type of game: Anagrams meets word search meets crosswords
Devices: iOS | Android
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: This one goes beyond the normal “find word repeat” type of word game apps by introducing multiple columns of letters you have shift around in order to spell out words in the center row. Beautiful to play, and quickly challenging.
4. Four Letters
Type of game: Timed word search game
Devices: iOS | Android
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: Like all word game apps, Four Letters starts out simple but quickly progresses to harder and harder puzzles to solve. With only four letters, you have to make a word as quickly as possible. Smooth and easy to play in small pockets of downtime to improve your vocabulary.
5. Blackbar
Type of game: Guess the word game, with an underlying story
Devices: iOS | Android
Price: $1.99 Android, $2.99 iOS
Why you’ll love it: If you’re looking for something a bit more immersive than typical word game apps, check out Blackbar. By playing, you’ll read through a story told in a dystopian future where censorship is blotting out key words (that you have to then guess). It can be a difficult game to master, but always entertaining.
6. Words with Friends (2)
Type of game: Basically Scrabble
Devices: iOS | Android
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: This is the highly-popular word game that you’ve probably already played. However, it’s still one of the best word game apps for straight fun and multi-player functionality. The redesign, Friends 2, allows you to play fictional characters in solo challenge events and includes new lightning rounds.
7. New York Times Crossword
Type of game: Crossword puzzle
Devices: iOS | Android | Windows
Price: Free to demo for a week, then $6.99/month or $39.99/year subscription options
Why you’ll love it: It’s THE classic crossword and now you can take it with you wherever you go. You’ll be able to play the daily New York Times newspaper puzzle or get access to mini puzzles, puzzle packs, or access to the 20+ years of past puzzles.
8. Word Cookies
Type of game: Word search style game
Devices: iOS | Android | Windows
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: It’s basically a modified word search game, but like WordScapes, the fun is in the little extras. With a nice and clean interface, it’s simple to play. And, you’re making cookies so win-win!
9. Wheel of Fortune
Type of game: Guess the word game
Devices: iOS | Android | Windows
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: If you love the TV show, this game gives you the ability to take your own turn at the wheel and guess the show’s puzzles. Play with friends and family, compete for prizes, and play lightning-quick rounds for a fast brain workout.
10. Letterpress
Type of game: Scrabble style game
Devices: iOS | Android
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: The game boasts a minimal, easy-to-use interface where you can play against friends to capture the board, or challenge a bot to play. Beyond figuring out words, it’s a strategy game that’s always challenging.
11. Word Search Pro
Type of game: Word search
Devices: iOS | Android
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: If you’re looking for a simple, fun, and beautiful app to play word search games with, this is the one for you. It has a bright colorful look, daily challenges, unlimited puzzles, and three difficulty levels that make it always fun to play. With elegant animations and night mode settings, it was definitely made with mobile users in mind. And, likely because of this, it’s the #1 rated word game app in the iOS store.
12. Word Connect
Type of game: A crossword style game, combined with word search
Devices: iOS | Android | Windows
Price: Free, with in-app purchases
Why you’ll love it: This one has the classic look and feel of old school games, with loads of playability. With over 3,000 levels and no time limits, it’s a relaxing way to improve your vocabulary a little bit every day.
What do you think are the best word game apps out there? Want even more bookish app suggestions? Check out:
- The Best Reading Apps For Kids
- Bookish iPhone Apps You May Not Have Heard Of
- Poetry Apps, For Readers and Writers
If you are a word aficionado, you’re spoiled for choice of word game apps. Word games come in numerous shapes, from classic puzzles and crosswords to word searches and anagrams. But the best word game apps offer many unique combinations of the above.
Word games are not only fun to play, but they are also an easy way to exercise your brain. Whether you choose relaxed, untimed, or gripping timed word games, playing will improve your concentration, vocabulary, and problem-solving skills while boosting your creativity and learning something new.
Top 20 Word Games for Android and iPhone
We have narrowed down the best word game apps for you to try, challenging and fun at the same time. All the games listed below are free, with the possibility of in-store purchases.
1. Wordscapes
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
Wordscapes is one of the best word puzzle apps that combine a crossword game with a word search. It’s easy to play—swipe letters that appear on the bottom of the screen in the correct order, and form words to fill the crossword puzzle. This is a quick game: it takes less than a few minutes to complete each round.
Like all the best word games, Wordscapes might seem easy to start with, but it quickly gets more difficult as you progress. It includes over 5,000 puzzles and several different playing modes. The game comes with pretty colorful backgrounds and a user-friendly interface.
2. Word Search Pro
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
Word Search Pro is a simple and engaging word puzzle app. You’ll keep your brain active while searching for the words given by the app, placed in different directions across the screen. As you swipe through the letters, the words get highlighted in bright colors.
Word Search Pro comes with several smart features. The user-friendly interface, customizable font sizes, various themes, and difficulty levels are only some of them. The app offers daily challenges to keep you entertained, and a night mode setting.
3. Word Connect
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
Word Connect is among the best word search apps, with a classic Scrabble-like interface. The game is very simple to play. Just swipe the letters to create words, while collecting coins. Word Connect isn’t one of the timed word games—the app doesn’t set any time limits. Relax and play at your own pace and ask for clues for solving the puzzles.
The game has a whopping 6,700 levels, so there is no reason not to train your brain every day while improving your language skills. Note that this is an adult word game, for ages 12 and above.
4. WordBrain
Devices: iOS | Android
Languages: 15 languages
WordBrain is among the smartest and best word game apps out there. Even though it’s originally meant for kids, it’s a great challenge for everyone. To play, locate the word from letters placed in the grid. Swipe the word to get into the next level—there are more than 1,200 levels per language. Although the game might appear simple in the beginning, it quickly gets more demanding as you progress through the levels.
5. Wordfeud
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: 10 languages including English, French, and Spanish
Wordfeud is a multiplayer word puzzle app. Create and place words on the 15×15 tile board. Earn additional points when you place letters on one of the high-scoring tiles: Double Letter, Double Word, Triple Letter, or Triple Word.
You can either choose an opponent yourself or get assigned one. Push notifications will inform you of the opponent’s latest move, and the app offers a chat function too. With Wordfeud you won’t get easily bored—it lets you participate in as many as 30 simultaneous games.
6. Scrabble
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
An all-time favorite, Scrabble is a true classic and one of the best word game apps on the market. You can choose to play against the computer, or find a random opponent by connecting on Facebook. Like Wordfeud, the Scrabble app lets you play multiple games at once. You can also talk to your opponents during the game, thanks to the enhanced chat and notification features. The Speed Play function allows for two or five-minute turns with your opponent for a fast-paced game.
In addition, the Scrabble word puzzle app offers the exclusive “teacher” feature, which helps you enhance your word-formation skills. You can see what your best word could have been after every turn and improve your game in the next round.
Finally, did you know that there are Word Finder tools for Scrabble available online? Check out our personal favorite, Scrabble Word Finder by Word Count Tool!
7. Word Crush: Hidden Words
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
One of the best word games on iPhone and Android, Words Crush is as simple as it’s entertaining. Just swipe through the letters in any direction—even backward—to crush the word. The size of the word is indicated below the grid. And if you can’t guess the word, you have several options to make the game easier: “search,” “hint,” or “shuffle.” With more than 3,000 levels, Word Crush: Hidden Words guarantees hours of entertainment.
8. Words With Friends 2
Devices: iOS | Android
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Words With Friends (2) is a highly popular word scramble app that plays pretty much like Scrabble: you get a choice of letters and place them on a board. You can easily expand your vocabulary and improve your spelling skills as you search for the highest scoring word.
You can choose to play either against fictional characters in solo challenges, which are updated with new word games, themes and opponents twice a month, or in multiplayer mode. The game has something for everyone: it’s perfect for newbies and experienced wordies alike.
9. Crosswords With Friends
Device: iOS
Language: English
With no doubt, Crosswords With Friends is one of the best iPhone word games. The daily crosswords are created by some of the world’s most published crossword writers. You can solve new puzzles daily, and a specific theme is available on different days of the week. There is Movie Monday, TV Tuesday, Wayback Wednesday, Top 40 Thursday, Sports Fan Friday, Smartypants Saturday, and Sunday Funday. The puzzles are relevant to entertainment, pop culture, and sports news and you’re guaranteed to learn something new each time you play.
Don’t miss completing weekly challenges—test yourself with new goals each week to earn rewards and collect badges. If you are stuck on a word, you can use hints to move faster. You can also challenge your friends and see who’ll be the first to solve the daily puzzle.
10. New York Times Crossword
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
The New York Times Crossword word puzzle app offers the same famous puzzle that’s printed daily in The New York Times newspaper. You can either play the daily puzzle or get access to mini-puzzles and puzzle packs. For even more challenges, you can access over 20 years of past puzzles. Earlier this year, this challenging word game app introduced “spelling bee,” a daily word game that asks you to spell words from a collection of letters organized in a hive-like form.
11. Four Letters
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: 20 languages
As its name says, the Four Letters word game challenges you to make words from just four letters. Four Letters is a timed word game, so make sure to find the solution as quickly as possible. It starts simple but quickly progresses to more and more complicated puzzles. Since questions can have multiple answers, you can get as creative as you like. With its pretty, intuitive interface and thousands of word combinations on offer, this is the perfect word game on the go.
12. Bonza Word Puzzle
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
Bonza is one of the most creative word game apps. It combines word search, jigsaw, and trivia, offering a unique type of puzzle. You are provided with fragments of a crossword puzzle and asked to fit them back together. Bonza provides clues to solve the crossword at a faster pace. In addition, the game has a feature that allows you to create your own puzzles. The starter pack and two puzzle packs are free, but you can unlock more with the coins you earn in the game. Alternatively, you can buy them through in-app purchases. Note that this is an adult word game, for ages 12 and above.
13. TypeShift
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
TypeShift is a modern word puzzle, and a unique blend of anagrams, word searches, and crosswords. You get rows of letters and move them around until you form a word. In the beginning, the game is simple, but it gets increasingly difficult as you progress. TypeShift also features a free daily challenge: the easiest one appears on Monday, and progressively more challenging puzzles build throughout the week.
14. Wheel of Fortune
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
Based on the TV game show with the same name, Wheel of Fortune lets you take your turn at the wheel and guess the show’s puzzles. This fun word game, with puzzles written by the show’s producers, is perfect to play with friends and family. The perks include connecting with new friends, chat function, and creating your own puzzles.
15. Letterpress
Devices: iOS | Android
Languages: English, Spanish
Many word puzzle lovers will agree that Letterpress is one of the very best word game apps today. It’s a challenging strategy word game with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. You can choose to play against your friends or the computer, each taking turns to spell words and capture the board.
16. A Word Game
Devices: iOS
Languages: English, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
A Word Game is definitely among the best word games for iPhone. The aim is to find hidden words relevant to the subject given in the puzzle. Simply swipe your finger across the letters to spell the hidden words. A Word Game consists of more than 500 puzzles and thousands of hidden words, getting more and more complex as you progress.
17. Word Cookies
Devices: iOS | Android
Language: English
Word Cookies is a cross between different aspects of word games, complete with a user-friendly interface. Swipe the alphabet cookies on the baking pan to form a word, then fill up the cookie jar with any extra words to earn coins. With Word Cookies you’ll easily get addicted to testing your spelling and vocabulary skills.
18. Word Shaker
Devices: iOS | Android
Languages: English, Dutch, French
Word Shaker is a word search game with a twist: words don’t have to appear in a straight line. You earn points by finding words in a grid—the longer the words, the more points you earn. And if you get stuck, simply shake the phone to scramble the letters and start again.
You can compete with friends or opponents from around the world. Choose between a relaxing untimed option or the fast-paced timed word game with the timer set to anywhere from 1 to 30 minutes. Word Shaker comes with a text-to-speech option, which pronounces the words for you, and the possibility to review the words you missed.
19. Word Heaps
Device: Android
Language: English
Word Heaps is another first-rate challenging word game app for all word fans. With more than 2,000 levels, this is a game for everyone. To play, you receive a clue for the puzzle, such as “rainbow color” or “ordinal numbers,” for example. Swipe the letters to form hidden words belonging to the given topic, and get a reward for every extra word you find.
20. Ruzzle
Devices: iOS | Android
Languages: 14 languages
Currently on App Store’s top ten word-game list in 148 countries, Ruzzle is one of the best word game apps out there. This hugely popular game is as fast-paced as it is addictive. Challenge your friends or random opponents to find as many words as you can from a given set of letters, swiping over them to form the words. And you need to be fast—the timer in this game is set to just two minutes.
Word Search — головоломка, в которой вы будете искать слова в наборе букв.
В этой игре вам предстоит столкнуться с головоломкой. Вы увидите поле с большим количеством букв, среди которых нужно отыскать зашифрованные слова. Слова могут быть расположен как по горизонтали и вертикали, так и по диагонали. Вам предстоит пройти тысячи уровней. У вас сверху поля с буквами будут слова, которые вам нужно отыскать. Как только вы найдете все слова, уровень будет считаться пройденным.
С каждой победой, уровни будут становиться все сложнее и сложнее. В игре множество тематик, на которые вам предстоит искать слова. Вы самостоятельно можете выбрать тему, на которую будут слова, это могут быть: города, еда, животные и множество других тем. В эту игру вы сможете играть где угодно и когда угодно, так как она не требует интернет-соединения. Если вы остановились на каком-то уровне и не можете его пройти, вам доступны подсказки, которые помогут вам найти недостающее слово.
Преимущества игры Word Search:
- Огромное количество уровней.
- Возможность выбрать тему уровня.
- Постепенно нарастающая сложность.
- Не требует соединения с интернетом.
- Простой, но очень затягивающий геймплей.
Words games are enjoyable because they are simple. There are a variety of word games. You can find words within a massive jumble of letters, unscramble anagrams, or fill in crossword puzzles. You can find all of those experiences along with some rather unique ones on mobile. There are quite a few options. However, many of them are copies of one another or don’t deliver a ton of actual content. We tried our best to sift through and find the best ones. There are official releases for classic word games like Scrabble Go (Google Play link), but the mobile versions often leave a lot to be desired. You can also find a bunch of Wordle variants in the Play Store, but they’re usually riddled with ads, which makes us sad.
In any case, here are the best word games, word puzzle games, and word search games for Android. If you need some help, we recommend checking out these anagram solvers and these cross solvers.
The best word games for Android
- Bonza Word Puzzle
- Crossword Puzzle by Redstone
- Hex Words
- Letterpress
- Ruzzle
- Stick Terms
- Wordscapes
- Wordfued
- Words With Friends 2
- Word Yarn
Bonza Word Puzzle
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Bonza Word Puzzle is an interesting hybrid between crossword and puzzle genres. Players get a clue and a bunch of letters all jumbled up. You arrange several different words by connecting the puzzle pieces together. It’s simple, fun, and it gets challenging occasionally. Players get the starter pack and two puzzle packs for free. You can unlock more with the coins you earn from doing packs or you can buy them with in-app purchases. We really appreciate the lack of a subscription price with this one and it’s also kid-friendly. We have no major complaints although some reviewers do have the occasional bug.
Crossword Puzzle by Redstone
Price: Free / Up to $4.99
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Crossword Puzzle by Redstone is, well, a crossword puzzle app with a bunch of free content. It works like a crossword puzzle probably should. You get a bunch of clues and you type in the answers. The app has easy, medium, and hard difficulties along with free packs of crosswords on a weekly basis. You can always purchase more via in-app purchases as well. The game also provides hints and controls for easily removing mistakes or skipping cells with letters while entering an answer. It’s even available offline. We honestly couldn’t find anything wrong with it. It’s a good, simple crossword puzzle game.
Hex Words is a competitive word game. You start with a bunch of letters in a hexagon shape on your phone. You tap the letters to form words as fast as you can. There is also an adventure mode where you find six related words to complete the challenge and the puzzle. We like this one because it’s minimal, free, and has no advertising. The colors of the puzzles are splashy and fun as well. There’s very little wrong with this one considering its price tag and target audience.
Letterpress
Price: Free / $4.99
Letterpress is another unique word puzzle game. It’s kind of like a much more intense version of Boggle. You and another player go head to head with a five-by-five grid of letters. Each letter fills in with your color when you create words. The game ends when you fill in every letter with a color. There are some rules in there, but it’s actually a fairly challenging game.
You can play with other people or with one of four bots. The game also comes with some of the tamest ads we’ve ever seen, support for the Oxford Dictionary, bad words, and even a bunch of stats to track your gameplay. The UI is super simple, but the game is surprisingly engaging. We definitely recommend this one. It’s definitely one of the best free word games.
Ruzzle is a competitive word-finder game. The goal is to find as many words as you can in two minutes. The winner is the person with the most points. That means you can technically win by having fewer words if your words generate a higher score. It’s a fun little game to play with simple mechanics. You simply select the letters, generate the word, and get points based on the value of each letter. This one is a premium game, so there are no ads to mess with your good time. It’s super rare to find an actively developed premium game that has an online multiplayer.
Sticky Terms is a bit more of a puzzle game than a word game, but each puzzle has words. You start each round with a fragment of a word along with an assortment of shapes and lines. You rotate each shape or line until it becomes part of the word. The round ends when you create a new word. Each word is a word that doesn’t have an equivalent outside of its native language, so you’ll be creating many words you likely haven’t heard of before. The extra bit of educational value makes it a fun time. This game is free with ads.
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Wordfued is another online word game. This one plays like Scrabble. You have a selection of letters. Each round, you use those letters to create a word on the board, which gives you points. The game includes a chat function so you can talk to your opponent. Otherwise, it’s basically an online competitive version of Scrabble. There isn’t much else to talk about with this one. We consider that one of the pros of it. It does what it says and we appreciate that.
Wordscapes
Price: Free to play
Wordscapes is kind of a mixture of Boggle and a crossword puzzle. Players get a mix of letters on the bottom of the screen and a crossword-style layout at the top. You swipe letters to form words that fill in the crossword section. The goal is to find all of the words that fit rather than finding every single word. The game includes over 5,000 puzzles (many with themes), simple mechanics, and a couple of different game modes. The game features some rather obnoxious advertising and that makes it less friendly to free players. Otherwise, the experience isn’t half bad.
Words With Friends 2 and other Zynga games
Price: Free to play
Words With Friends 2 is Zynga’s most popular word game. It plays basically just like Scrabble. You and another player get some letters. You place them on a board to generate points. The player with the most points wins the game. This is a full online multiplayer experience, but you can play solo if you want to. The gameplay itself is perfectly fine and looks good.
You can remove ads, but it costs $10 per 30 days and we think that’s kind of awful. The freemium aspects of it aren’t overly gratifying either. Other than that, it’s a winner. Zynga also has Crossword With Friends, Boggle With Friends, and Draw Something. All three are excellent freemium word games. You can also find an official Scrabble game on Google Play, but this one is better.
Word Yarn
Price: Free to play
Word Yard is another simple word game and it’s another mix of Boggle and a crossword puzzle. You get a series of letters and you fill in the crossword section above. The game features hundreds of levels that get more difficult as you go. It also boasts no time limits, support for dozens of languages, full offline support, and more. The game is also kid-friendly because a lot of the early puzzles are ridiculously easy. Those looking for a true challenge may not find this game difficult enough to sate those needs. However, it’s not half bad for a free word game.
Word Search – Free Crossword Puzzles Games is a Free game to play for English Crossword word Puzzles. It a game for Preschool and Kindergarten kids, which will not only enhance your children’s vocabulary but make them memorize theme-based words and help them distinguish the words in a particular category.
Arctic Alphas narrates the story of a group of Arctic animals who have lost their home due to global warming and the player now has to freeze English words on the grid which in turn changes to ice cubes. Once the child has collected enough ice-cubes, he/she can build their homes.
It is a fun-friendly and level-based game that caters to the children of age group 6+ yrs. The game comprises of 64 levels that contain a huge array of words from diverse topics and each word is carefully distributed according to the word complexity level and topics. With a clean and simple interface, this game provides fun as well as a relaxing experience. A child can grasp from basic topics like animals, fruits, vegetables, flowers, countries etc. to complex topics like farm animals, flightless birds, green vegetables, etc. while playing word puzzle games.
Not only does these mobile games amaze children with limited time frame challenges but also provides a huge replay with several engaging twists and mechanics that makes the game challenging as well as interesting.
Kids will enjoy making words and build their English Vocabulary with this word finder. Help children enhance their vocabulary and English dictionary from words from diversified domains. The word maker moves in complexity gradually so that kids are challenged while participating in the fun filled arctic activities.
IT’S WORTH A TRY! So, without thinking much, HIT INSTALL and PLAY and let us know your feedback!