Before the rise of the smartphone, the crossword puzzle in the newspaper was the highest of emotions. The digital age has brought exciting alternatives. App stores filled with word games and the success of Wordle are testament to the genre’s popularity.
We present you these word game apps before:
- Codycross Crossword: iOS and Android
- NYT Games: iOS and Android
- Voortle und wordle.at: iOS and Android
- Word Crush: iOS and Android
- supertype: iOS and Android
Codycross crossword
The crossword puzzle is one of the most popular word games in the world. First published in the American newspaper New York World in 1913, the crossword maintained to this day and is now also available digitally in various versions. One of these versions is Codycross Crossword. The app combines the classic game with a modern look and some additional elements that should make the experience even more varied.
If we are starting Codycross for the first time, we will start with the backstory familiarized. Here we learn from a us benevolent alien, who had to make an emergency landing on Earth and now wants to learn more about humanity. We will help him by solving crossword puzzles. But Codycross doesn’t just offer us colorful crossword puzzles. Instead, there are always new subject areas that we can solve. All puzzles move within a theme.
If we create a level, new ones will be added. Next to the puzzle fun Codycross also offers something for the eye. The worlds are designed extremely lovingly, although they have virtually no value in terms of play. The crossword puzzles themselves play according to the well-known scheme. We get different large grid served, which has to be filled with letters or words.
The virtual keyboard not only allows us to type, but also shows the respective hint for the selected row. Codycross is basically free, but it hits us hard a lot of advertising to. To get rid of these, there is a subscription, which is not exactly cheap at 4.49 euros per week or 10.99 euros per month.
NYT Games
One of the most well-known publications in the world, the New York Times, has a whole armada of puns to offer. Collected in the NYT Games app, the newspaper offers one right here series of games that enjoy great popularity. The classic, the New York Times crossword, must of course not be missing here. The crossword puzzle, which appears daily in the printed version, can be completed digitally here. Visually, one sticks to the paper version and has not drifted too much into modernity.
Nevertheless, the digital version can be played in a relaxed manner. The relevant information about the row is displayed above the keyboard. If we want to focus on fields, we can zoom freely. From Monday to Saturday it increases difficulty level the riddle.
In addition to the classic, the New York Times combines other games in the app that have caused a sensation in the past. There would be, among other things Wordle, which exploded in 2022 and was bought outright by the Times due to its success. Here we have to guess the 5 letters of a word in 6 attempts.
is also popular Spelling Bee, where as many words as possible have to be created from individual letters arranged like a honeycomb. are also there Sudoku and a mini version of the crossword puzzle.
As a fan of Spelling Bee and Wordle, the app is one of my personal favourites. For some German-speaking users, it may be a disadvantage that the app is only available in English language is held. The free version of the app is equipped with advertising, for 89.99 euros a year you can get the entire selection with the All Access Pass.
Voortle und wordle.at
Certainly one of the most popular word games at the moment is Wordle. While the original was adopted by The New York Times and can still be played there, it is not ideal for German-speaking players. Shortly after the hype started, however, German offshoots appeared that took over the concept 1:1. One of the few apps still available here is Voortle, which is next to Deutsch also offers French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
Voortle also offers several variants that bring some variety and additional challenges to everyday Wordle. In addition to the classic variant with 5 letters, we can also use 4, 6 or 7 letters play. Otherwise, stick to the original version. Letters can be inserted over 6 rows, the combinations must make sense and the correct letters are marked in color.
Although Voortle seems to have a reasonable command of the German language, there was sometimes confusion in the test. The app seems to have problems with umlauts and some brands, such as Apple, also use it as a German word. If you want to save yourself these annoyances and the advertising, which can be removed for 6.99 euros, wordle.at to become happy.
Although there is no native app here, the game works wonderfully in the browser. The Web-App is true to the original and so far I have not noticed any incorrect words. Those who have activated cookies can follow their own series of successes.
Voortle is free for iOS and Android available. wordle.at is available free of charge as a web app.
Word Crush
The game Word Crush is much less well-known, but just as entertaining. At first glance, Word Crush is reminiscent of the classic Tetris. Except for towers made of blocks, the 2 games have nothing in common. Word Crush is about finding words in the jumble of letters. At the beginning of each round we are presented with a new interface consisting of dozens of towers of letters.
Words are hidden in these towers that we have to look for. If we find a word, we can mark it by swiping over the matching letters. Found words and the corresponding letters are then pulled out of the tower and thereby create new word combinations.
Word Crush can be played solo or competitively with others, depending on your needs. The progress can then be compared at any time via a separate ranking. While I personally don’t like Word Crush visually, the gameplay could hardly be better. The mechanics are simple, the puzzles are also suitable for in between thanks to their compact structure and the choice of words helps to expand the vocabulary.
Word Crush is free for iOS and Android available.
supertype
Anyone looking for a completely new concept is, you will find it at supertype. Instead of searching for words or marking them, words and letters become the tool here. Supertype follows a super simple and at the same time tricky concept. About more than 100 Level distributed we find lines in different arrangements. These lines can be straight or completely crooked, are arranged differently from each other and usually have gaps.
If there are no strokes, we may have to draw them ourselves. In all cases, however, letters are involved. We have to use these letters to collect or touch one or more points in the respective level. The shapes of the respective letters play a decisive role. While an “o” rolls down, for example, an “r” is needed at one point, which has to fall over in a targeted manner. Sometimes a single letter is enough to collect pointbut in some levels you need whole words to capture the many points.
The special concept of supertype grabbed me during the test. The tasks are anything but easy and offer some puzzle fun. It’s also a pleasure one-time payment, which is due. A little more than 2 euros are required, thankfully there are no subscriptions or microtransactions here.
supertype is around 2.49 euros for iOS and by 1.89 euros for Android available.
