Scrabble and Words with Friends can be tons of fun, but if you’re looking for an English language-based game that’s a little further off the beaten track, there are plenty of options out there. Here are five that will tickle your interest – and maybe even teach you something along the way.
The Great Language Game
Are you a whiz at recognizing foreign languages? Do you just want to test your skills? Try your hand at the Great Language Game. This online game challenges you to identify the languages spoken in various audio clips.
Word Wipe
Word Wipe is like a word search combined with Tetris or Candy Crush. Even if you’ve never played either of those games, Word Wipe is intuitive and draws you right in.
Rebus
Available as an app for iPhone, iPad, and Android, this app (made by Jutiful) bills itself as an “absurd logic game,” and boy, does it deliver on that. A rebus is a pictorial representation of a word – for instance, a picture of a pen followed by the letter e could stand for penny. The Rebus app provides plenty of tricky rebuses for you to figure out, creating a satisfying workout for your brain.
Same Thing, Different Word
Same Thing, Different Word is one of Sporcle’s most popular online games. The point is to match up synonyms from two different lists. It’s harder than it sounds because it often includes words that have multiple meanings, like sub, and regionalisms, like bubbler (as a word for a water fountain). It’s surprisingly addictive!
The Linguistics Challenge
If you love the feeling of cracking a code, this is the game for you. It shows you carefully selected sentences and phrases from foreign languages and challenges you to use that information to decode new phrases and even create your own. Be warned, though: these puzzles are not for the faint of heart.