Most of my favorite free online word games can be found on the website entitled Jay Is Games, Casual Gameplay. This website contains a multitude of free online games for almost any interest. As a former English major and a lover of words, I usually choose to play the word games, such as the games listed below. Whether you like to play word games solo or against other online participants, Jay Is Games hosts plenty of free, addictive entertainment in the way of games. Word games stimulate the brain, even as far as preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s disease if used daily. I am certain that Jay Is Games contains a free word game for every lover of words like me. However, if you cannot find one that suits you, keep checking back on the site because new games are added to the website all the time. Allow me to highlight some of the selection of the free online word games on Jay Is Games.
Weboggle
This addictive, free word game pits you against over 100 other online participants as you play a live, online version of Boggle. When I found this online game, I immediately thought that I would place in the top 10 because when I play the regular board game Boggle, my scores are always unmatched. One reason the game is so addictive, however, is because you play over and over trying to improve your placement in the score list. I have never made it into the top 10, but I did finally make it into the top 25! When you click on the game and then type in your name, you will have a choice to play on a 4×4 board or 5×5 board. This free online version of Boggle allows you to rotate the board while you play, and it provides statistics at the end of each round: the words you missed, the words everyone missed, the words that only you found, and the total number of possible words in that board. You can, of course, invite your friends to play and see who performs better at this fast-paced word game!
Words
While we’re speaking of fast-paced, free word games on the internet, I must introduce this game called “Words” that I just recently found. Caution: though it is addictive, it can burn your eyes if you play it for a long period of time without any breaks because it requires a certain amount of focus and staring like the Magic Eye pictures. If you like typing, or if you want to practice your typing skills (for those of you who have a certain wpm requirement for a job), “Words” is a great game to play. I personally find the game rather challenging because the keyboard on my laptop is so tiny. All you have to do to play this game is type in your name or alias, select your language (e.g. English), and then start typing the words that scroll across the screen. The words scroll faster as you progress further in the game. Make sure you completely type each word before it reaches the other side of the screen or else your game will be over. I made it up to 90th place so far, but that was only because I was interrupted and distracted by someone in the room. Hint: do not play where you will be easily distracted if you want to score high. The game provides your accuracy percentage as you play, and also keeps your points. Each correct letter typed is worth 1 point; each incorrect letter typed results in 5 points lost from your score. Sometimes you will get overlapping words moving at the same speed across the screen; in this case, good luck! Oftentimes, the words on the screen may look blurry, either because you’re staring so intently at the screen or because of the speed at which the words are moving. In this situation, my suggestion is to look at the word in its entirety to figure out what it is in order to type it, rather than concentrating on each specific letter. Typing class graduates should have no problem with this game!
8 Letters
Yet another free, race-against-the-clock word game, “8 Letters” combines concepts from Boggle and scrambled anagrams. On each level, you are given a scrambled, 8-letter word to both unscramble and to play it like an anagram, where you try to find as many other words using those 8 letters as possible. In order to pass a level during the time limit given, you must at least achieve the provided target score, if not also find the actual scrambled 8-letter word. Like Boggle, the plural and singular form of the same word counts as two words. One rather obnoxious feature in this game is that you have to actually click a “Submit” button in order to enter a word, rather than just hitting the “enter” button on the keyboard. On the same note, you also have to hit the “clear” button to remove all of the letters from the playing board if you make a mistake. This free word game was entertaining for awhile, but probably not one of my favorites.
Text Twist Again, this free, online word game is not one of my favorites. It is almost identical to the game “8 Letters” in terms of how you play it, but slightly different in how it is set up. Text Twist provides a scrambled 6-letter word for the player to unscramble, as well as find other specific words within the 6 letters. Text Twist provides spaces for you to know how many 3-letter words, 4-letter words, 5-letter words, etc. can be found within the 6 letters. As opposed to reaching a target score in the game “8 Letters,” the goal of each level in Text Twist is to unscramble and identify the 6-letter word so that you may go on to the next level. If you get stuck, you may also click the button that says “twist” so that the letters will re-scramble themselves into a different order that may or may not assist you in finding more words. The same obnoxious features mentioned above in the “8 Letters” game also apply to Text Twist. Well, at least these online word games are free; no one claimed they were perfect!
Crossword
Here’s a free word game that mixes the use of words and logic. This game has no timer, so you may play at your own pace and you can take back mistakes if you need to. Perhaps the lack of timer is what makes the game relatively easy for me personally, but I still enjoy it as a quick pastime. This free Crossword game differs from other crosswords because it does not provide clues in order to figure out the words in the puzzle; instead, it provides the locations of certain letters of the alphabet and makes you figure which other letters are used in the puzzle and where. If you click on a particular square in the crossword, all of the other squares in the puzzle that also contain the same letter as the location where you have clicked will light up. You then decide which letter you think goes in all of those locations, according to the letters already provided for you in the puzzle. Crossword includes levels Beginner, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Expert. As you progress in levels, the number of already-provided letters decreases, requiring you to use more logic and knowledge of words. I don’t find even the Expert level that difficult, but I still like this version of a crossword puzzle since I am not always good at getting the clues to real crosswords!
Word Sandwich
Have you ever played the silly game where someone thinks of a number and the other person tries to figure out what that number is by getting “higher” or “lower” clues? Well, this free word game reminds me of that number game. To do well in this game, you really have to know your 5-letter words very well! Because I cannot think that quickly without actually studying ahead of time, I am not successful in this game! Who wants to study just to play a game? The goal is to guess the mystery 5-letter word by guessing any other random 5-letter words. When you type a word, it moves to either the “higher” slot or to the “lower” slot, according to where it is in relation to the mystery word in the alphabet. For example, if the mystery word that you’re trying to figure out is “start” and you type the word “dress,” then your word “dress” will move into the upper slot. Now you would know that the mystery word is lower in the dictionary than the word “dress.” You have 50 guesses to guess the correct word, so be careful how quickly you enter words because each guess decreases your score; at the same, the faster you guess words, the greater your score multiplier will be, which resets every time you enter a word. The only advice I can give you for this game is that it’s easier to think up 4-letter singular words and add an “s” on them to make them plural and 5-letter words. That can at least get you started. Apparently this free word game can be addictive, but perhaps that applies only if you excel at it.
