I LOVE word games. LOVE them! I’m a professional word-nerd in the publishing industry, so word games are right up my alley. But I also know that not everyone else around me loves words quite as much as I do. So I put together this list to help you find the perfect word game whether you’re enjoying it with other word nerds or are simply looking for a party game that people of all interests will enjoy! And I even have my top lists for word games that help your children practice their spelling in a fun way! Check out each of these top-five lists down below:
• 5 best games for word nerds: Quicktionary, Wordsy, Code Stack, Play on Words, and Lightning Letters; read more on each game below.
• 5 best word games for parties: Tapple, Word on the Street, 2-Word Rush, Last Word, and Rhyme Out; read more on each game below.
• 5 best word games for families with a wide range of ages: Super Big Boggle, Dabble, Quicktionary, Tapple, Last Word; read more on each game below.
• 5 best educational word games for spelling practice: Play on Words, Wordical, Phrase Rephrase, Rhyme Out, Super Big Boggle; read more on each game below.
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5 Best Games for Word Nerds
If you’re like me and think in terms of word lengths and letter configurations to remember people’s names or if your dream is to be on Wheel of Fortune, then these are the best games for you to savor every consonant, vowel, and letter combination your brain can create through word play! You’ll notice that this list doesn’t include the classics like Scattergories, Scrabble, or Mad Gab, because I’m guessing that many word nerds already have those games in their collections.
• Quicktionary. Find a word that meets three conditions, which change every turn. The conditions usually factor in what letter the word starts or ends with, a combination of the letters it includes (such as a double letter), the number of syllables, the number of letters, and a specific topic. For instance, find a word that (1) begins with a P, (2) is at least seven letters long, and (3) is associated with math. Already thought of an answer? Then this game is for you! I’ve found that my non–word-nerd friends love it as much as I do, too!
Buy the Quicktionary word game on Amazon.
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• Wordsy. In this game, two letters are placed in four columns, and their point values change each round. Your goal is to come up with a single word each round that maximizes the point value of the letters; there’s no minimum or maximum of how many letters you need to use, and you can use any other letters even if they’re not in the four columns. This game definitely gets you to dive deep into a lot of letter combos!
Buy the Wordsy card game on Amazon.
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• Code Stack. I’ve played a lot of word games but never seen anything like this one! This game has 28 discs, each with 3–6 color-coded letters on them. For instance, the teal disc has A, B, C while the purple disc has U, V, W, X, Y, Z. At the beginning of each round, select a word length (such as five letters) and then everyone races to grab discs that form a word of their choice. Race quickly or else your desired discs may be snagged by another player! Once your word is formed, your task is to reverse engineer the other players’ words based on the letters they contain. It’s an incredible twist on word games! Just one caution: We found it was a little harder for those who are color blind; they can still figure out each color based on the letters on each disc, it’s just not as quick as it is for those who can see all the colors distinctly.
Buy the Code Stack word game on Amazon.
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• Play on Words. Try to form words from letter cards in the center of the table AND in other player’s point piles. If someone lays down a word in front of them, it’s not theirs to keep . . . yet. Until the end of each round, you can change, rearrange, and steal letters from any pile to build unbreakable words and keep as many words as possible in your pile.
Buy the word game Play on Words on Amazon.
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• Lightning Letters, played with The Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck. If you like Nerts or Solitaire, then you’ll love this word twist on the classic idea! Everyone has their own set of letter cards, and you each create four stacks with five cards each; the rest of the cards remain in your hand. When play starts, everyone flips the top card over on their piles and tries to form a word with their visible cards. If you can’t form a word, use the remaining cards in your hand—flipping them over one at a time—to find a card that works. Once your first word is placed down, you can also play on cards in the center, such as adding an “s” to the word “oar” to form “soar.” The fast pace of this game keeps you on your toes. It works great for a party game and can even be played alone!
Learn more about the Lightning Letters word game, and purchase the printable Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck to play it with.
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5 Best Word games for Parties
Not everyone is a word nerd, so these are the best games to play when wanting to appeal to people with a variety of interests. Several of them made my list because they’re also easy for people to jump in or out of depending on conversations or that the host can play while serving up food—which are both essentials for me in picking the best party games around.
• Tapple. Pick a topic, and start the timer! Then take turns coming up with a word for that category—but it has to start with a letter that no previous words have used, because when you say a word on your turn, you push down its letter tile on the wheel and nobody can use that letter again until all the letters have been used. Just be sure to push the letter and reset the timer within 10 seconds or you’re out! The last player standing wins! This is another game that’s extra fast-paced making it extra fun.
Buy the Tapple word game on Amazon.
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• Word on the Street. Letters are lining up to play this game—literally—and you want them to line up on your side of the board! Each turn, one of two teams is given a category and needs to come up with the word that will get the most letters—or at least the most essential ones—to their side of the board. But the other team can move the letters back to their side of the board in the next turn unless you’ve managed to get them completely off the game board on your side. Do that with eight letters and your team wins. This game is all about creative combinations and letter strategy—all while trying to beat the buzzer!
Buy the Word on the Street game on Amazon.
Buy Word on the Street at Walmart.
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• 2-Word Rush, played with The Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck. Everyone takes eight cards in their hand. The goal? Try to form two words with four letters each. If you can’t do it, discard a card and pick another one up—with everyone picking up and discarding at once! It’s a moment of chaos, but so worth it. Creativity and speed both play a big part in staying in the game and being the first player to lay down your two words each round!
Buy the Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck.
Learn more about the 2-Word Rush game.
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• Last Word. Each round, everyone is given one letter and one subject. When the time begins, think of as many words as you can that start with the given letter and fit the subject matter, such as “things that are flat” that start with the letter “p” (pancake, paper, placemat, etc.). But don’t shout out all your words at once—wait to say something until another player has called out a word. Because in this game, you want to be the player who says the last word before the buzzer goes off. This game is super fast-paced, keeps everyone’s full attention, and allows for people to move around while playing if needed.
Buy the Last Word game on Amazon.
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• Rhyme Out: Each card in this game has three clues that lead you to three rhyming words. For instance, “Worn on a king’s head, the opposite of up, a bride’s dress.” Can you guess the rhyming words? Crown, down, and gown. That sample is on one of the easy cards, and the game also has more difficult options on the flip side of each card. We found it easiest to play this game in teams when playing with younger players. It’s a great party game because you don’t have to sit around a table, and people can be moving around (food table, anyone?) and still participate fully.
Buy the Rhyme Out word game on Amazon.
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5 Best Word Games for Families with a Wide Range of Ages
When you’ve got one child in elementary school and one in high school, word games can get unbalanced quickly. The five games below are the best games that can involve the whole family at once—regardless of their spelling level.
• Super Big Boggle: Shake up letter dice each round to create a word-search–like grid of letters and then try to find as many words with connecting letters as you can. If you find words that nobody else found, you get a point for each one. I thought this game may be easier for older players, but even our younger players won some of the rounds! I do think the Super Big Boggle version is worth the extra cost compared with regular Boggle because it allows for much more searching and brain play!
Buy the Super Big Boggle word game from Amazon.
Buy Super Big Boggle at Walmart.
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• Dabble. Everyone starts with 20 tiles and tries to rearrange them to form five words. But it’s not that simple; each word has to be a different length—one 2-letter, 3-letter, 4-letter, 5-letter, and 6-letter word. (The creative tile boards help make it easy to sort by word length!) If you get stumped, swap out a tile for another one in the center. We like to make it extra challenging by making all five words form a sentence as well!
Buy the Dabble word game on Amazon.
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• Quictionary: Find a word that meets three conditions, which change every turn. The conditions usually factor in what letter the word starts or ends with, a combination of the letters it includes (such as a double letter), the number of syllables, the number of letters, and a specific topic. For instance, a word that (1) begins with the letter S, (2) has an even number of letters, and (3) is associated with music. You don’t have to have a large vocabulary to come up with words like “sing” or “song.”
Buy the Quicktionary word game on Amazon.
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• Tapple. Pick a topic, and start the timer! Then take turns coming up with a word for that category—but it has to start with a letter that no previous words have used, because when you say a word on your turn, you push down its letter tile on the wheel and nobody can use that letter again until all the other letters have been used. Just be sure to push the letter and reset the timer within 10 seconds or you’re out! The last player standing wins! Tip: When playing with young children, add a rule that anyone 14 or older can’t use the easiest letters like m, n, r, s, t, and vowels so those letters are available for younger ages; you could add a dot to each of these letters as a reminder, if needed.
Buy the Tapple word game on Amazon.
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• Last Word. Each round, everyone is given one letter and one subject. When the time begins, think of as many words as you can that start with the given letter and fit the subject matter, such as “things that are flat” that start with the letter “p” (pancake, paper, placemat, etc.). But don’t shout out all your words at once—wait to say something until another player has called out a word. Because in this game, you want to be the player who says the last word before the buzzer goes off. This game is super fast-paced and keeps everyone’s full attention.
Buy the Last Word game on Amazon.
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5 Best Educational Word Games for Spelling Practice and Fun
Introducing your children to spelling through more than just memorizing lists is a great way to develop a love for words—and increase spelling skills and abilities—at a young age! Here are my favorite educational word games for spelling (mid-elementary school or older) that are so much more fun than homework!
• Play on Words: Try to form words from letter cards in the center of the table AND in other player’s point piles. If someone lays down a word in front of them, it’s not theirs to keep . . . yet. Until the end of each round, you can change, rearrange, and steal letters from any pile to build your best words. It’s a great way to help children of all ages practice word arrangement and spelling. And it’s not necessarily a fast-paced game, which gives them a chance to look at the letters and also learn from the other combinations that players create.
Buy the Play on Words card game on Amazon.
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• Wordical. Players takes five consonant cards each round, and the group rolls two dice to find two vowels to accompany them. Each card is worth a specific point value, so you want to maximize your cards to find the best word. Be the first to lay down your word and you get bonus points. Just don’t be the last to play down or your points aren’t counted! If playing with children just learning to read, you could instead set a time limit and give a point to anyone who plays a word within that time limit (regardless of the cards’ values) to get a point.
Buy the Wordical word game on Amazon.
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• Phrase, Rephrase, played with The Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck: Start with a single phrase, such as “you are loved.” On their turn, players try to rearrange the letters in the phrase to form different words. Keep playing until someone repeats a word used or can’t come up with a new one. You can also play where you use a single word at the beginning of the round and everyone tries to see how many words they can think of using just the letters in the original word.
Buy the Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck for "Phrase Rephrase."
Learn more about the game Phrase, Rephrase.
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• Rhyme Out: This game revolves around word families—through rhymes—instead of individual spelling words. Each card in this game has three clues that lead you to three rhyming words. For instance, “Worn on a king’s head, the opposite of up, a bride’s dress.” Can you guess the rhyming words? Crown, down, and gown. We found it easiest to play this game in teams when playing with younger players (normally each person plays on his or her own), so they can help each other out. Sometimes even the adults needed the extra help from a teammate!
Buy the Rhyme Out word game on Amazon.
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• Super Big Boggle: Shake up letter dice each round to create a word-search–like grid of letters and then try to find as many words with connecting letters as you can. If you find words that nobody else found, you get a point for each one. I thought this game may be easier for older players, but even our younger players won some of the rounds! I do think the Super Big Boggle version is worth the extra cost compared with regular Boggle because it allows for much more searching and brain play, and having an extra minute on the timer also means children are exploring the word combinations for longer each round.
Buy the Super Big Boggle word game from Amazon.
Buy Super Big Boggle at Walmart.
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The Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck
Want to purchase just one game that’s as versatile as a deck of playing cards? Get our Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck. Because we love word games so much, we designed this to be the one go-to letter card deck that can be used for a huge variety of games. It features:
- Seven different colors for multiplayer use.
- Color options for games with color requirements.
- Three vowel cards per color and two cards per color with other frequently used letters.
- Six double-letter combos to create more interesting game rules (such as TH and PH).
- A scoring system on the cards for games allowing extra points when players use more difficult letters.
- Letters showing in two directions on the cards, allowing for easier reading on both sides of the table. (Genius!)
- Two blank cards per color that can be used as wilds or to create more double-letter combos or letters in other languages.
Purchase the Ultimate Letter Card Game Deck today! It may just be the last word game you’ll ever need! Find several games you can play with this game deck, and keep checking back, as we add more regularly!
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What other games would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.