The Best Word Search Games For iPad

Rediscover Your Love Of Word Search Games

Overview

I don’t know about you, but I used to love word search games in those old supermarket-style books as thick as your wrist, chock full of word finds and word games. I eventually grew out of them, however. Whether it was the tediousness of them, the monotonous circling and erasing of endless lines that had me up past my bedtime kinking my neck and getting huge pencil blisters, I don’t know. I do know one thing, however: I have rediscovered my love for them through the iPad. What a perfect way to avoid pencils and trying to erase lines so dark that it didn’t look like they had been erased at all. The iPad ditches all of that madness in lieu of a more fun, relaxed, and easier way to find words late into the night. Most of the apps in this guide also have free (usually ad-supported) versions, linked below, so you can try before you buy.

Essential Apps

  • $4.99

    Word Quest PLUS

    by IslandJohn.com

    It’s time to get serious here, word searchers. If you’re tired of all the word search apps that play like they were made by giddy 6th graders with a hacked password to daddy’s Photoshop Elements, then step up to WordQuest (Plus). Here you will be treated to a royal word search full of polish, shine, and sizzle. Toggle your difficulty preferences to create word searches that fit your mental ability, choose layouts and options to hide certain word letters for an extra challenge, customize levels with coverage, intersections, and more. There are WordQuest and WordQuest Lite versions as well. With the “Plus” version, you won’t be bothered by those annoying ads wanting you to buy a Ph.D. in medicine, and there are no unlocks, upgrades, or in-app purchases. Because let’s be honest–nothing is worse than paying for an app only to be hounded to buy something extra in order to beat the game (yes GodFinger, I’m looking at you).

  • $0.99

    Back & Forth

    by Larry Snyder

    Word Quest Plus is the king of traditional-style word search apps; Back & Forth is something totally different. This universal app is part word search and part word game. Rather than finding words from a list, you simply find as many words as you can, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, before time runs out. Get more points for more unusual letters. Turn your iDevice to rearrange the tiles so you can find more words. Best of all, you can challenge your friends to a real-time head-to-head competition on the same board (Quick! Grab that Q before your buddy does!) over Bluetooth or Game Center.

Notable Apps

  • $1.99

    Word Search for iPad – Young Readers Edition

    by Independent

    Not all word searches were created for brainiacs or zaniacs. Enter: Word Search for iPad – Young Reader’s Edition. The words in this puzzle finder were created by teachers and parents so that kids can actually learn how to read and spell. Everything is brightly colored and big so learning and playing is easy and cumbersome-free. Adults can even submit words for inclusion in future updates. Magical, I say.

  • $2.99

    WordSearch HD

    by AFKSoft

    This is a personal favorite of mine, simply because it’s so easy to use and minimalistic in its interface and approach, yet is stuffed full of word lists. Simply tapping or dragging a finger will highlight words, and there are three difficulty levels plus an online leaderboard so I can own my friends. It's one of the simplest feature-filled word searches in the app store. There is even a puzzle shaped and colored like a rainbow. A rainbow puzzle, for goodness sake!

  • $0.99

    Word Genius HD

    by Catnip Media

    Tired of all those word searches with letters that are so small your head implodes? Try Word Genius HD for iPad. The letters are so huge that squinting will be a thing of the past. In Word Genius HD, your ultimate goal is to find all of the words in the dictionary (any dictionary, I suppose). If you do, you are deemed a Word Genius (I say if you find all the words in the dictionary you have no social life and need some friends and a good nightlife finder app). I digress. You can choose from a variety of six board sizes with an unlimited amount of time. The words to find in this app are truly overwhelming.

  • Free

    WordPop! Volt

    by Smart Box Design

    An excellent word search game that has you “popping” words until there are fewer and fewer words left on the screen. WordPop! Volt features three difficulty levels, over 180,000 word entries, sweet graphics, and a “best words” screen to show off your awesomeness in creating cool words like “antidisestablishmentarianism” and “Floccinaucinihilipilification.” Hey, look them up. Now all you need is an endless supply of Mountain Dew and you’re set. We can’t help you with that.

  • $0.99

    Word Absurd

    by Trephination Proved Worthless LLC

    Zany! Weird! Batty! Those are some of the colorful words you’ll be finding in this offbeat but fun word search game that will have you searching for words faster than Richards Simmons searches for sparkling leotards. All of your everyday words are in here too, so don’t worry about going insane finding “nutty” words. Cheaters can easily flip between puzzle pages, word lists, and solution pages, and you can “roll the dice” to add new puzzles. Each puzzle can be played multiple times, and the app is universal, so play it on your iPhone, too! Weee!

  • $0.99

    WordSearch

    by FinBlade

    Choose your own background in this pretty word search app. You can add your own words for a more customized experience. It's universal, so you it on any of your iDevices.

  • Free

    Word Search Party

    by Lightwood Consultancy Ltd

    It's free, universal, attractive, and it lets you play head-to-head or online against up to three opponents if you like. It's great for teachers, as you can connect it to a projector or monitor via VGA/HDMI. There are a number of in-app purchases, such as ad removal, extra word lists, and a word list creator. This could be a pro or a con, depending on your perspective.

Decent Apps

  • $0.99

    WordSearch Unlimited HD

    by VirtueSoft.com

    How about taking advantage of that iPad you have in front of you by downloading a word search game that takes full advantage of that beautiful screen of yours? You’ll want to think about downloading WordSearch Unlimited HD then, a word search game that features unlimited puzzles (with each one being unique), three game level difficulties, lists from popular categories, lists of foreign words, auto save, local scoreboard, and themes like notepad and chalkboard. With other list categories like food & drink, fruit & vegetable, colors, boy and girl names, music, countries, animals, body parts, and many, many more, how can you go wrong? The one flaw is that the font is tiny and hard to read.

Free Versions of Mentioned Apps

Other Apps