Free Word Games to Test Your English Skills
As schoolchildren, we all played games designed to help us learn and memorize important information. Games are a great way to make learning more engaging and fun than simple drills and worksheets. And best of all, these benefits of games don't disappear just because we're a little older.
We have easier access to games than ever before through our phones and PCs. And while it's easy to find games of all types, this article will focus on word games you can use to strengthen the English you know and enhance it with new information.
The games we'll introduce cover many different skill levels, so be sure to pay attention to the suggested level for each.
Various games from LearnEnglish Kids
The LearnEnglish Kids site has a variety of activities that are good for younger learners. Here you can find an alphabetical list of games based on specific themes. For example, students can match words with the pictures they see for things like household chores, body parts and emotions.
Recommended level: Beginner
Scramble Words
In Scramble Words, players are given five letters and must use them to create as many words as they can.
At the top of the game screen are spaces representing the words players must spell to win. Each word that is successfully spelled will reveal a letter in one space, providing a clue to other words left to reveal.
Players begin with four minutes and forty seconds, and time remaining in each round will carry over to the next.
Recommended level: Intermediate
Outspell
In this game, players take turns with an AI opponent, using their letter "tiles" to spell out words on a grid. Tiles placed on special squares will result in higher scores, and so will using trickier letters like Q, Y and X. Once all of the player's and computer's letter tiles are gone, the highest score wins.
The difficulty of the computer can be adjusted, but even on easy, some of the words the AI spells can be uncommon in daily conversations. Therefore, it's a good idea to have a dictionary handy while you play. And if you have any questions about the words you see, book a lesson with one of our tutors and ask them about it.
Recommended level: Intermediate
Spell It
The rules to this game are quite simple. After you listen to a word, you then have 15 seconds to type in the correct spelling. One round consists of 10 words.
Some words are simple, but others can be quite challenging, so we recommend this game for students who are at least at the intermediate level.
Recommended level: Intermediate - Advanced
Spellbound
In Spellbound, you are given seven letters plus a minute and thirty seconds to create as many words as you can with them. Creating words with only three or four letters is not very challenging, but using most (or even all) of the letters is much more difficult and will really test your vocabulary!
If you get stuck, there is a button you can press to get a new set of letters, but this can only be done a limited number of times per game.
(By the way, the adjective "spellbound" means "amazed" or "completely fascinated.")
Recommended level: Intermediate - Advanced
Odd Word Out
This game is a great choice for students who want to test or expand their knowledge of idioms.
In each round, players are presented with four words; three of them can complete a common expression. The player must choose the "odd word out," or the word which does not fit with the others.
As an example, players may be shown the following words:
- Scenes
- Times
- Scissors
- Eight ball
"Behind the scenes," "behind the times" and "behind the eight ball" are all common phrases, but "behind the scissors" is not. Therefore, "scissors" is the correct answer.
What's especially useful is that after an answer is selected, text appears that shows you the rest of the phrase: "Scenes, times and eight ball all complete a common phrase when following 'behind the __'." This allows you to easily search for the meaning of each expression.
Recommended level: Advanced
Syl La Cros Tic
As you might guess from the name, this game is a bit unusual!
On the right side of the game screen is a list of clues. On the left side is a grid of syllables. Instead of searching for the word that matches each clue, players must use the pieces of different words to "build" the answers!
For example, if the clue is "outside the law," you would select the syllables "il," "le" and "gal" from the left side to spell "illegal," the correct answer. Some of the clues can be quite challenging, so we only recommend this game for higher-level students.
Recommended level: Advanced
Wrap-up
Games can be a fun and engaging way to enhance your learning experience. Thankfully, everything we've presented here is completely free to play and requires no registration. However, very competitive players who want to record their scores for everyone to see will need to log in.
But we need to warn you before you play — some of these games can be very addictive, so be careful!
