Games are fun, but learning isn’t always fun. That’s why we recommend doing both at the same time. Many word games can help you improve your communication and thinking skills while providing a fun way to pass the time, relax, and even spend time with loved ones.
If you love crossword puzzles and word searches on paper, you can bring that love to your Mac and explore the creative ways developers have reinvented some classics. We’ve compiled a list of our free favorites, so you don’t have to spend time scouring the web.
1. Word Search Go
Word searches are fun and easy brain teasers that only require you to find the words hidden in a collection of scrambled letters. Word Search Go brings this popular paper game to the Mac with a beautiful classical music soundtrack.
This fun app puts a little twist on the classic by adding levels where some letters of the word are hidden, and you have to find other related words to reveal them. The game also rewards you with coins every 10 levels. With enough coins, you can pay for power-ups if you get stuck.
You can also buy coins if you are impatient and remove ads from the game. However, when playing this game on a Mac, we didn’t notice any obvious ads. If you want to experience word games like this on the go, you should check out our list of word game apps that you can play on Android and iPhone.
2. Pictosaurus
Pictosaurus is for those who want to develop an ability to identify items and improve their vocabulary. This game may look like the famous 4 Pics 1 Word, but it is quite different. In Pictosaurus, there is only one image; By default, it’s enlarged, so it’s hard to tell exactly what it is. You win the level if you can identify the object from the available clues.
Three power-ups can help you in the game. The first one adds letters to the input squares, the second one removes unnecessary letters from your set, and the last one will zoom out. Sometimes you get free boosters, but the easiest way to get them is to buy them with coins. If you run out of coins, you can spend some money replenishing your wallet.
The game design is very kid-friendly, with a dinosaur theme and even jungle ambient sounds in the main menu. But don’t be fooled by appearances; Pictosaurus is very challenging and will test your guessing skills.
Discharge: pictosaurus (Free in-app purchases available)
3. Typography
Word game meets multiplayer strategy in Letterpress as two players compete for dominance on a word board. While having a good strategic head is key in Letterpress, a rich vocabulary is the only way to beat opponents. Letterpress forces you to expand this vocabulary while teaching you how to carve words out of random tiles.
The rules of the game are simple: create words and take “ownership” of the letters, and if you own all of the adjacent letter tiles next to a letter tile, it becomes yours permanently. The game only ends when no new words can be made or when both players skip their turns. The goal is to have complete dominance of the board or the highest points when the game ends.
The user interface is well done and offers a white background (which you can change in settings) and the option to compete against random players online. If you don’t want to do that, you can play from a list of six challenging bots ranked by difficulty. In Letterpress, you can run multiple game sessions simultaneously, giving you something to do while your opponent thinks. The game will notify you once a player has made their move.
If Letterpress gives you a deep craving for strategy games, we’ve thought ahead and curated a list of our favorite strategy games that you can play on your Mac. As you can see, contrary to many people’s opinions, you can still enjoy of a good selection of games on macOS.
Discharge: Typography (Free)
4. Word Connect Fun
Word Connect Fun is a challenging and addictive game that requires you to build words by chaining together the letters presented in each level. You must find all the words to advance to the next level, guessing what they are by how many letters they are composed of.
The game has an in-game currency called rubies, and you can earn more if you find more words than you need. In turn, you can spend these rubies on hints that make the more complicated levels bearable. You can also spend money buying rubies. However, if the normal game is too easy for you, there is a seven letter difficulty level (bingo) that will challenge even the best word builders.
One thing we really like about this game is the user interface. It has a homey wooden feel with familiar Scrabble-like tiles and soothing music to accompany its wholesomeness. But you need to be careful as you go too far, because many users have complained about bugs that require obscure word combinations from your tileset.
Discharge: Word Connect Fun (Free in-app purchases available)
5. A brain
While it’s not the strongest memory game out there, One Brain can be a great way to develop your quick thinking skills and help you choose your words more efficiently. The game has three modes to choose from: colors, arrows, and numbers. Each of them will present a word experience and a visual experience, and you have to choose whether the two match or not in just a few seconds!
It is a challenging game that ranks your highest score around the world. And even a score of up to 10 will put you in the top third of the rankings.
This is a simple game with no ads, no in-app purchases, and no premium version. It is completely free and straight to the point, characterized by a simple user interface with large buttons. If you want more robust memory games, you can check out our dedicated list of apps to help you improve your memory.
Discharge: a brain (Free)
6. Test for synonyms
Using Princeton’s open source word database, Synonyms Quiz presents an educational word game for Mac that teaches people synonyms for English words. You can use this game to expand your vocabulary by learning synonyms and seeing better ways to express yourself.
The game doesn’t seem to have a definite ending, and you can continue until you accumulate as many points as you want. All you have to do is choose the correct answer. If you lose the correct answer, you can try one more time, and if you lose one more time, you go to the next synonym: the game is not over if you lose.
If you want a bigger challenge, you can choose attack time in the main menu and try to beat the clock by scoring as many points as you can before time runs out.
Synonyms Quiz has no ads, no in-game boosters, no coins, and nothing like that. It’s completely free and can be a fun and challenging way to improve your knowledge of words.
Discharge: synonym test (Free)
7. Spell Tower
You can take advantage of your Apple silicone Mac and download the iPad app, SpellTower on your device. Yes, Apple’s silicone Macs can run iPad and iPhone apps from the App Store; You can find out which processor your Mac uses by reading our dedicated guide on how to tell if your Mac uses Intel or Apple silicon.
SpellTower is a word search app that you can play in three modes: tower, puzzle, and rush. Each of these modes offers different complexities to a simple game. The goal is simply to find as many words as possible while maximizing your points and strategically breaking tiles.
Since it’s an iPad app, SpellTower does have ads, but you can pay a small fee to remove them and unlock other modes except the default three. However, SpellTower is pretty decent for a free game, as long as you can put up with the ads that can pop up from time to time.
Discharge: spell tower (Free premium version available)
Expand your vocabulary and have fun
Word games can really grow your vocabulary. Playing a few of these games for a few hours a day can add a lot more words to your personal dictionary.
But most importantly, they are fun. They can be a great way to pass the time or even bond with family. And all these games can be downloaded for free from the Mac App Store.