You’ve probably seen people everywhere talking about a new word puzzle craze called Wordle. And if you’re anything like us, you’re probably wondering what other word games are out there (especially after the buyout). Thankfully, there are lots of excellent mobile and tabletop options!
There are several Wordle alternatives you can check out if you’re looking for copycat games (you know, so you can play more than one puzzle a day). But if you’re looking for other types of word puzzles that have different game mechanics, we’ve got you. We found some fun options for both tabletop and mobile gamers—perfect for fun alone or on family game night!
The Best Mobile Word Games
Word puzzles are fun, but they can often require tons of pieces, and they aren’t exactly portable. These fun mobile options offer hours of fun and make it easy to test your word creation skills anywhere on both your tablet and your smartphone.
Competitive Letters: Words with Friends
Words with Friends (Free, with in-app purchases) is Zynga’s digital Scrabble variant that’s a ton of fun to play with—who else—your friends! You’ll have seven letter tiles to work with and a board to place them on once you create a high-point word. You can even boost your score by placing your tiles on multiplier squares that affect either individual letters or your entire word. Points determine victory, so plan carefully!
The game also offers a few different game modes, too. You can challenge other players to the fast-paced Beat the Clock mode or play by yourself and sharpen your skills in between matches with friends. You can also take part in weekly challenges, play with other random players online, and use tools like Hindsight and Word Radar to optimize your gameplay.
Frantic Word Searches: SpellTower
We’re huge fans of SpellTower (Free, with in-app purchases), as it blends all the fun of a word search with the iconic heart-pulsing game Tetris. In the game, you’ll simultaneously be racing to find hidden words and keep your letter columns from reaching the top of the screen. You will definitely need to brush up small and large words alike in order to clear tiles at a fast enough pace!
The game sports 11 modes in total, including favorites like Daily Tower, Zen, Rush, ExPuzzle, Bubble Puzzle, Blitz, and Double Puzzle. The puzzles also feature bonus tiles that’ll snag you double word values. The game collects high scores, detailed game statistics, leaderboards, achievements, and supports iCloud backup.
Relaxing Puzzles: Wordscapes
With Wordscapes (Free, with in-app purchases), you can challenge your mind and test your word skills thanks to its myriad selection of puzzles and daily challenges. It can even help you expand your vocabulary (who doesn’t want that) and help you relax at the same time. Each puzzle consists of a circle with six letters and a small crossword-style board layout, and you can swipe between letters to fill out the crossword.
The word hunt game features more than 6,000 crossword puzzles. It also offers a ton of themes and sceneries you can unlock as you continue to play. You’ll need to bring your sharpest word game skills to the table with this one, but it’s a ton of fun!
Words and Cats: Kitty Letter
Word games AND cats? We love it. Kitty Letter (Free) is created by the same studio that made Exploding Kittens and gives you cats, collectible power-ups, and heart-pounding competition against other players. The faster you unscramble each puzzle’s words, the faster you’ll be able to stop your crazy cat-hoarding neighbor from destroying your house.
Kitty Letter supports both one-on-one online games with friends and strangers, and a super fun solo campaign mode if that’s more your speed. How can anyone not like a word puzzle game with cats, right?
Lie to Your Friends: Fibbage XL
Alright, so Fibbage XL ($4.49) isn’t technically a mobile game, but you will need either your tablet or a smartphone to play it. The hilarious game is available either as a standalone title or as part of the original Jackbox Party Pack game bundle (which we heartily recommend). It’s a perfect pick for both parties and for family game night, up to eight players.
Fibbage is a bluffing word game. In it, players are given a sentence, like “The mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky is a ___.” You’ll need to come up with a lie so good, all the other players will think yours is the true correct word. Once everyone submits their answer, players can vote on which answer they think is the truth.
If you’re looking to stick to a budget, we recommend downloading this single game. However, if you want a few other party games to go along with it, the first Jackbox Party Pack is a ton of fun (with some truly unique and memorable titles), and it’s available for 12 different platforms.
Hilarious Bluffing Party Game
Fibbage XL
Jot down the word that’s the most convincing lie to dupe the other players and win!
The Best Board and Card Word Games
If mobile games aren’t your jam, and you prefer all of your games in tabletop form (which we totally get), you’ll love these picks. Whether you want a game with simple fast-paced mechanics or something more complex that’ll shake up your next game night, we think these board and card games are just perfect.
Clever Word Creation: Scrabble
Odds are, you’ve played (or at least seen) a game of Scrabble at some point in your life. The iconic word game has been around forever and is a staple for a reason. You’ll have seven letter tiles—drawn at random—to work with, and it’s up to you to shuffle them around and consistently play the words with the highest score.
The game board also has strategic multiplier squares on it that can double or triple the value of a letter or word, and you’ll want to take advantage of those in order to secure victory. The game comes with one board, 100 wooden letter tiles, four tile racks, a game guide, and a drawstring bag you can store the tiles in between games. Scrabble is ideal for two to four players, aged 8 and up.
Clever Word Creation
Scrabble
Scrabble is one of the most iconic word games, but you’ll need to carefully strategize where you place the tiles on the board!
The Ultimate Word Search: Boggle
One of the other most popular word puzzle games of all time is Boggle. This game features 16 letter cubes, along with a 16-slot cube tray and cover. You’ll put the lid on the tray, shake up the cubes, and players aged 8 and up will then have 90 seconds to write down as many words from the randomized grid as you can think of.
The game works with one or more players. Solo mode is a fun way to test yourself (and practice in between multi-player matches), but the competition really ramps up when you opt for two or more people as any word found by at least two people doesn’t count. You’ll need to brush up on your obscure vocabulary words for this one, but it’s totally worth it!
The Ultimate Word Search
Boggle
Shake up the letter cubes, then find as many words as you can in 90 seconds.
Find the Wolf and the Word: Werewords
Looking for another layer of fun beyond just creating a good word? We think you’ll instantly love Werewords. It’s a perfect party game for four to ten players. Yes, you will need to guess a secret word still, but you’ll have to get creative as you can only do so by asking “yes” or “no” questions and you have a limited amount of time to do so. But that’s not all!
One of the players is secretly a werewolf. This player knows the secret word and will actively work against you as much as they can without revealing themselves. Don’t worry, though, one player will also be a Seer. They, too, know the secret word and will try to help you guess the word. You can still win by identifying the werewolf, but the werewolf can win by identifying the Seer. The game can be scaled to a variety of difficulty levels, making it great for most ages. Lots of plot twists in this one, and even more fun.
Find the Wolf and the Word
Werewords
Not only do you need to uncover the secret word, you’ll also need to find the werewolf!
Sizzling Teamwork: Hot Words
Hey, you can’t say that! Hot Words is a sizzling game that’s great for four or more players. In it, you’ll need to describe words while the rest of your teammates try and guess them. In each of the four rounds, each team will pick a Jalapeno Card, giving you Hot Words you can’t use to describe the secret word.
The game gets tougher (and more hilarious) each round, and there’s even a tie-breaking Ghost Pepper round for any teams tied for first place. Hot Words has a small learning curve and offers easy and engaging gameplay—perfect for anyone aged 12 and up. The game includes a gameboard, four team tasting boards, 50 Jalapeno Cards, 150 Word Cards, four Hot Sauce bottles, a sand timer, and a dinner bell.
Sizzling Teamwork
Hot Words
Things might get heated fast in this team-based word guessing game.
Matching Predictions: Blank Slate
If you’re good at reading minds, you’ll be a natural with Blank Slate. In this party game, you’ll try to predict what others are thinking. Players will secretly write a word that completes the given phrase for the round. Everyone will jot down the word they think everyone else will write down as well, but you’ll only earn points for each time you actually match with another player. And—you guessed it—whoever has the most points wins. The game is designed for three to eight players aged 8 and up, and gameplay takes about 30 minutes.
Matching Predictions
Blank Slate
You’ll need to guess the right word that everyone else is thinking in order to win!
