Clean and minimalist word puzzler

WORDWARD – A Game of Words is a premium word game for mobile by developer Brent Asbury. It’s a word puzzler that boasts clean and minimalist aesthetics. In it, players are tasked to form words from a grid of random letters, and cores are computed based on numbers and complexity.

Much like other games like New York Times Crossword or Octordle, WORDWARD – A Game of Words has simple and intuitive controls that have players tap out the words they want. It also supports offline gameplay, and a progress and activity tracker to see a history of previously used words.

Root words

There are plenty of word games out there to test the expanse of your vocabulary and verbal prowess. Some come in the form of crossword puzzlers, while others simply let you play and relax at your own pace. They can get pretty “same-y” after a while. In comes WORDWARD – A Game of Words, bringing an interesting twist to the long-established formula.

The app plays like most word games, albeit with a nicer and minimalist look. Where things start to diverge is with the gameplay premise where your first word is crucial. Every word that comes must be based on the letters from the original word. It’s an intriguing mechanic that makes things a bit more challenging and complicated, in a good way.

This is one of those instances where the flow of the game is entirely dependent on you and the first word you make. It also provides a history of words you’ve used previously that you can refer back to. That said, while it offers a unique premise and experience, it could still use more modes and content in the future to keep things fun.

Getting the first word in

If you’re big into word games and are looking for something different and unique, give WORDWARD – A Game of Words a try. It’s a nice-looking puzzler that puts a nice twist to the usual gameplay loop, and it’s actually quite challenging. It’s easy to learn but hard to play with how unpredictable things can get depending on what word you start with. Well done.