News: The 5 Best Word Game Mobile Apps Besides Scrabble

The 5 Best Word Game Mobile Apps Besides Scrabble

When you don't have anyone to play with in the flesh, nothing beats a round of competitive online Scrabble. If you're constantly on the move, the Scrabble app developed by Electronic Arts (EA) for Android and iOS mobile devices is probably your favorite way to play. But let's face it—if you love Scrabble, you probably love all types of word games, and if you're on the hunt for that next fun and challenging logological mobile game, I've got a few suggestions for you...

1.  Words with Friends / Wordfeud

This game probably need no explanation, because it's consume the lives of Scrabblers everywhere with its sleek design and smooth interface. If you just want to play and don't care about keeping a record, this is the way to go. The actual Scrabble app is great for keeping track of your games and scores, but compared to Words with Friends, it's slow, clunky and even ugly. And just as the name suggests, this game is best for playing your friends, especially those who would normally never play Scrabble with you.

The 5 Best Word Game Mobile Apps Besides Scrabble

If you're not into Zynga games, Wordfeud is just as good, if not better.

2.  Dabble

I recently wrote about Dabble and its fast-paced addictiveness. Twenty letters are stacked in a pyramid shape, and you have to rearrange the letter tiles as fast as you can to spell out five legit words of various sizes (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 letters long). What makes it so fun? Instead of just working with one rack of letters, you're working with five, and you have to strategically reorder them to spell words on each rung—in under five minutes! It's pretty fun if you're into word games that test your speed.

The 5 Best Word Game Mobile Apps Besides Scrabble

3.  AbbleDabble

I'm not sure what the fascination is with the word "dabble", but AbbleDabble is just like Scrabble and Words with Friends, only it's got a twist—all of the bonus squares on the board move after each player's turn. It's an interesting way to play, since you can't really plan out your next move based on points, because your score will always change when the bonus squares shift. So, you have to concentrate on your current turn, without worrying about your next one. If you don't like the moving bonuses, you can still play a static game.

The 5 Best Word Game Mobile Apps Besides Scrabble

4.  Boggle / WordTwist / Dropwords

If you like Boggle more than Scrabble, then you'll enjoy the official Boggle app for iOS devices. This game is like a word search, where words are not just horizontal, vertical and diagonal, they're squares and rectangles and zee-shaped. As long as you can connect one letter to the other, it's legit (you just can't use the same letter twice in the same word). I used to love playing Scramble by Zynga, but they since changed the game for the worst (with a new name), so Boggle is my new favorite word search game.

The 5 Best Word Game Mobile Apps Besides Scrabble

If you've got an Android, I'd recommend either WordTwist or Dropwords (which used to be called Word Drop). WordTwist is just like Boggle and has multiplayer mode, whereas Dropwords weaves in a hint of Bejeweled, incorporating bombs into the fast paced gameplay, but limits the play to just one person.

5.  WordSearch Unlimited

If you want to relax a little, WordSearch Unlimited is the perfect way to do that. It's definitely not as challenging or stressful as any of the above word games, but it's just as fun. Just find the words, much like in Boggle, WordTwist, and Dropwords, only this time they are only horizontal, vertical and diagonal, just like those word search puzzle books you would get at the bookstore or grocery store. WordSearch Unlimited is available for both Android and iOS, but by different game developers.

The 5 Best Word Game Mobile Apps Besides Scrabble

Games to Avoid

Bananagrams is an awesome warmup game for Scrabble, but the application for Apple devices is in need of some serious updates. There's a lot wrong with the app (which I won't go into), so until you start seeing some five-star reviews in the iTunes App Store, I'd stay away. Other games I would avoid are Word Scramble Challenge Edition, Words, Word Scramble, and anything that has a rating of 3 stars or less in the Android Market or iTunes App Store.

Just updated your iPhone? You'll find new features for TV, Messages, News, and Shortcuts, as well as important bug fixes and security patches. Find out what's new and changed on your iPhone with the iOS 17.6 update.

Photo by William Brawley

27 Comments

Yes, Wordsmith is a great alternative to Scrabble, just like Words with Friends and Wordfeud.

Hey Justin, Have you any thoughts on the various cheat apps out there like Cheats & Words? Can they be a compliment to a players game?

I think "cheating" apps can be helpful for bettering someone's vocabulary and understanding of word placement, but that's about it. These types of apps should only be used when playing a computer (single-player) game or when the opponent is fully aware that you are using them. I imagine most people do not use it in these two ways, but instead use it to flat out cheat against randoms, which I'm against.

I touched on cheating in word games briefly in this forum post on Literati cheating.

I'm all about full disclosure. But like I said, these tools can be highly educational for learning new words and understanding the board layout better. I'd say something like "Cheats & Words" would be more of a "cheating" app, compared to an "skills builder" app, as the name implies, because it's geared towards Words with Friends. You can't play a computer game in that app (though you can play one against yourself with "Pass and Play" mode), so more than likely you'll be playing against unsuspecting friends or random players. It's still may help build skills, but also helps extinguish your credibility.

We're definitely on the same page. I'm checking out your other post! Thanks.

Try What it Takes, a words and number game for iPad that blends the best of Scrabble and Countdown, a hugely popular TV game show.

What it Takes is an exciting word and number game, where players compete in different 1 minute rounds to determine who the winner is. Players have the opportunity to earn huge points by forming words, reaching numerical targets, and solving 7 letter anagrams.

Free and paid versions available for iOS.

You guys should try out my new game, Word Combination. It's only on Android at the moment (working on getting it on iOS), but it's super fun! It's like word search mixed with crossword puzzles.

If you guys like a word game that plays a bit faster, you might like Word Drift Puzzle for Android. It's a combination of classic sliding puzzle and word-find game. I like it, after all I made it myself :)

Try Word's Up! for Android. This game offers a completely fresh breeze in the domain, where instead of falling figures, you will now have to worry about falling Scrabble tiles. The aim is to arrange them into correct English words, but quickly, as you cannot let the tiles pile up to the top! Whenever a correct word is entered, the according tiles disappear, giving you a few moments to breathe before you go on to your next word hunt!

Clamor is a really fun new word game for iOS, if you're looking for a game that takes the best parts of Bananagrams, but adds some cool features, and much better gameplay. It's available for free in the iOS App Store, and enjoys a 5-star rating in iTunes.

Wreck A Word is a mash-up of Scrabble, Tetris, and Angry Birds! Great reviews. There's a free and paid version for iOS devices.

You also might want to check out the new action word game "WordnRoll." Tetris/Scrabble gamestyle. Single and multiplayer and NO MORE waiting on turns. Available in the iOS App Store.

Check out Get Got GO. Combines many different elements of games into a fun word game. This one should definitely make the mix. It's for Android (free and pro versions) and iOS (free and pro versions), and yes, they can play together.

We just released a fast-paced multiplayer word game called "WordSlide Battle" for Android. It's free, and super fun (if I do say so myself)!

If you're a fan of strategic word games, I highly recommend trying Wordbase. Wordbase isn't another Scrabble knockoff — it's a tactical game that requires the strategic prowess of chess or checkers, along with a mind like a dictionary, to master.

Learn more at WordbaseApp, or download the game for free on iOS.

BattleWords is a word game we developed over at CodeStream that has great multi- and single-player modes! It's different from your regular word game as it offers special powerups and features!

There are both free and paid version on Android.

My favorite app by far in your list is WorkSearch Unlimited, but I've been playing a new game lately that has proven to be the most addictive and funnest game ever called "Z is the End."

You can check it out on Google Play.

Check out my app, Word Pursuit for Android. It's somewhat like Boggle meets Candy Crush.

You should check out Letter UP, a multiplayer word game that is played in 'real-time' – a key strength that many who have tried the game find really exciting and a lot more fun.

Another great word game app called Word square:
word square

and there is an online version as well:
word square

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