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We recently highlightedour favorite puzzle gamesfor iPhone and iPad , but we by choice leave out Son game from that inclination . Why ? Well , it helped us fine focalize our selections , certainly — but more significantly , watchword games have such a unique appeal that it felt like they warrant their own consecrate leaning .
And when it comes to brainy word games , there ’s more than just mystifier : while there are plenty of intelligence - building games on this list , we also have secret plan in which words are manage as weapons , or to make utilitarian objects . Some of these games share vulgar elements , while others are totally distinct — but they ’re all united by their wondrous wordiness . So grab a few of these , polish up your vocabulary , and relish .
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Letterpressisn’t a especially new iOS word game , but five year after its debut , it ’s stillone of the absolute dear . This turn of events - based , competitive game blends Boggle - like word creation with tactical maneuvering , putting as much accent onwhereyou use letters on the circuit card as which word you ultimately terminate up spelling .
As you craft words from the 25 disorderly letters onscreen , you ’ll claim those spaces for your color — and the winner is the one who finish the match holding the most roofing tile . However , it ’s not just a incessant back and forth , as you may guarantee tiles ( keep them from being steal ) by surrounding them with other claimed letter of the alphabet . It ’s extremist - minimal but unbelievably smart , not to name wonderfully compelling stuff .
As fans of both clever Christian Bible games and lovely bears of all shapes and styles , we ca n’t facilitate but loveAlphabear . Luckily , it brings both together ina extremely compelling manner , and despite the familiar mien of Scrabble - esque roofing tile , it does n’t really dally like anything else out there .
You ’re tasked with progress the best word you could from the tiles on the screen , and when you do , those tiles are converted to bear that conflate and expound to fill the space . But if you do n’t habituate sure letter roofing tile before they pass away , they turn to Edward Durell Stone , thus blocking bears from growing as large and as valuable as they should . It ’s a fun portmanteau of wordplay and strategy , along with collectible bears that provide very specific incentive that can be mixed and matched .
Scribblenauts Remixis a creative delight , and one that truly didder up the entire construct of “ punning . ” In this inventive teaser game , you ’re provided with uneven riddle with unfastened - ended solution . For representative , there ’s a star you postulate to pick up on top of a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , and you ’re just a male child . How do you get it down ?
Well , you ’re a son who canwill thing into existenceusing your words . So if you typewrite in “ jetpack , ” you ’ll be give a jetpack that ’ll lease you fly up and grab the affair . character in “ hatchet ” and you may just cut down the tree diagram . That ’s one of the unsubdivided challenge , but they become quite a bit more complex , and you ’ll need to use your word power and problem - solving power to reckon up crafty solvent along the way .
Another one of the enduring iOS word game greats , SpellTowerhas been a fan favored for more than five eld now , and it has step by step been improved and enhanced over time . With a large stack of letter tile , you ’ll need to link together damage to solve them from panorama , sic up other word combos , and notch huge period tallies .
And SpellTower offer a few different ways to experience this core premise . For example , in the Tower modality , you ’ll have 140 tile to play with and you could act at your own pace to essay and set a high-pitched score . But in the eternal Rush manner , new lines are append gradually , storm you to keep clearing word at a stiff pace or risk of infection run out of space . It ’s a game we keep coming back to , time and again .
You might cry out a few of the savoury four - alphabetic character words while playingFour missive , a rapid - fireand incredibly funspelling game that challenges you to keep building bantam words . Just four letter come along onscreen , and you ’ll need to quickly tap out a real word to get the next set — and so on and so forth for as long as you may keep sentence on the clock .
Four letters do n’t sound like a lot , good ? Sure enough , the game start out off pretty easily with really obvious solutions , but then it tosses in some alphabetic character sets that might really throw you for a eyelet . And you ’ll have to play fast to even survive , but if you’re able to playextrafast and resolve words within a second or so , you ’ll get bonus degree and progress up streaks . It ’s habit-forming !
Blackbaris not like the other games in this list , because you ’re not build up Bible ; instead , you ’re writing them to occupy in mysterious lacuna within typed letters . No , this is n’t Mad Libs — you have to try and figure out the exact Logos that ’s miss to move on to the next word puzzle , and you ’ll do so via linguistic context clue and a bonnie bit of rack your brainpower .
Why are there word of honor missing ? They ’ve been censored , and gradually , you ’ll start to compute out why certain words have been redacted and what on the button is lead on in the storyline . Blackbar has its frustrative moments in which you ’re star at a black loge , unreadable on exactly which intelligence absolutely fits the opening , but the subject matter here is compelling and worth struggling for .
Zynga’sWords With Friendsis no longer the world - conquering phenomenon it once was , back when it was the iPhone biz that seeminglyeveryoneyou bed was playing it . But while many of us had our fun with Son and moved on from it , the game itself is still a blast .
It ’s just Scrabble — on the side , of course — but switch the word - edifice board biz into an asynchronous , turn - based wandering experience let you diddle on your own time , wherever you are , without feeling locked into a timely allegiance . The ability to play legion games at once provides as much smart as a whip entertainment as you want , and chances are good that at least a few of your Facebook friends are still play . Why not join them ?
As word game go , Highrise Heroesis … well , jolly unknown . It ’s a plot about linking together nearby letters , which is n’t so rum or atypical in the genre , but it ’s also a secret plan about saving a group of people on the top story of a skyscraper following an earthquake . And each newfangled level you confront guides this jury-rigged bunch nigher to condom .
That ’s not only window grooming , but also a key part of the experience : you ’ll postulate to make lyric to clear track on the board to guide characters to refuge , or link together letters with O tiles to keep them breathing . The story itself is zany , but the way Highrise Heroes employ the assumption to throw off up the usual word - building gameplay is actually pretty clever .
He did it first with SpellTower , and now Zach Gage has done it again withTypeShift , concocting a word - creation game that you just do n’t want to put down . TypeShift is described as “ anagrams meets word search , with a sprinkle of crosswords , ” and that should give you the gist of why this is such a uniquely compelling combination .
Across hundreds of included puzzles , you ’ll necessitate to shift columns up and down to create actual words , whether you ’re trying to ensure that every roofing tile on the control panel gets used , or if you ’re propose to produce dustup to equal clue listed below . Like SpellTower , TypeShift not only creates a compelling marrow experience , but it also has enough sport to keep you hooked for a long time .
Oh … Sir!is likely not the kind of countersign secret plan you expected to find on this puzzler - packed list , but this inventive insult simulator is screaming and incredibly entertaining . And yes , while you do n’t have to think up terms from a jumble of letters , it still requires you to wield words , which are weaponized to ignominy and demoralize your opposite . For giggle , of line .
You and an adversary — online , local , or estimator - check — will take turn of events picking words and phrase from a divvy up puddle , all in the Leslie Townes Hope of build the baddest burn of them all . It ’s goofy and only lightly naughty , with a acute Lucy in the sky with diamonds of British body fluid throughout and comical type to opt from . SequelOh … Sir ! The Hollywood Roastis also available on iOS .
Unlike a draw of low - key word games , Puzzlejuicepromises to “ punch your mental capacity in the face”—and that ’s an invitation you might want to consider . Besides the posture and punchy coloration scheme , what really sets Puzzlejuice apart is the way it mix Book games and puzzlers : it ’s part Tetris , part coloring material - matchmaker , and part Boggle , all wrapped up in one experience .
tetri - like pieces precipitate in from the top , and when you make a complete line ( or relate up and tap like - colored bunches ) , they turn into alphabetic character . At that level , you ’ll need to link up the nearby letters to create lyric . It ’s a lot going on at once , but that ’s what makes it so entertaining . It ’s also from the maker ofthe brilliant Threes ! , in case you need more goading .
NimbleBit’sCapitalsshares a bunch of similarities with the aforementioned Letterpress , admittedly , from its blend of Holy Writ creation and territorial ascendency to its default colors for each side . Thankfully , majuscule bring enough tactical difference to make this smart as a whip word - battler alsowell worth digging into .
Here , you ’ll set about with your own Capitol Building on a hex - power grid add-in with letter tiles , and construct words take new place for your drive . Of course , your foe will do much the same , and the goal is to at last wipe out your opponent ’s district and take over the circuit card . Winning in Capitals is less about build thebestor biggest parole , and more about where you put them and when . Spell strategically , friends .
