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This is an unbelievable test that proves that you don’t have to know how to spell to know how to read. Don’t believe me? Click here.

Chain Reaction is a fun word game that makes you think about how words fit together. The game is based on the Game Show Network’s TV show of the same name. The game board is 7 rows - the first and last rows are filled with a word. Your job is to make a “chain reaction” of words from the top to the bottom, using 2-word phrases. So, for example, if the first word is train, the second might be track. Then, using track as the starting point, the third word might be star.

The game gives you a letter clues, but you pay for them. The more clues you use, the less points you get. You can choose to go up the chain from the bottom or down the chain from the top.

There are 3 rounds, and a final round. Each round is 60 seconds, and each is worth more points. In the final round you have to make a 4-word match in 30 seconds.

It’s a free, exciting game that tests your ability with words, combinations, and thinking outside the box.

SandScript is a word game that combines two different word games set in an Arabian Nights type of backdrop. There are 3 main games - a quest-type game (Genie’s Quest), an endless game (1001 Nights) , and the Sultan’s challenge.

In the Genie’s Quest and 1001 Nights, you first play a hangman, Wheel of Fortune type of game. You’re given a definition and have to guess the letters in the word. You get a limited amount of misses. There are also three hints that you can earn: “buy a vowel,” “fill in a letter” or “delete all letters that don’t belong.” The last hint is the most valuable, and the hardest to earn. Your game is timed, and then you move on to the Sultan’s Challenge.

In the Sultan’s Challenge, you get to choose a word from 3 letters to 7 letters long. The letters of the word are shuffled, and you need to guess the word. You also only have 3 wrong guesses for each word. The more letters, the higher the score.

This game gave my vocabulary a workout. Even though I knew most of the definitions, the words got harder and harder the higher I went in the game. And the Sultan’s Challenge was fun in two ways. I found that the 4-letter words were very easy, so I challenged myself to get as many as I could in as little time as I could. A race against myself. The 5, 6, and 7-letter words were very hard, but that challenged my brain in a different way.

Download the free trial of SandScript for a fun vocabulary boost.

Bonnie’s Bookstore is a cute take on the word scramble game. I’ve got to admit that the backstory made me download the game. Bonnie inherits a children’s bookstore, and then decides to write her own books. She uses her grandfather’s illustrations, and updates classic fairytales like “The Frog Prince” and ”The Prince and the Pauper.”

The cartoon illustrations for this are very charming, and, surprisingly, the music is pretty good. I’d compare some of it to Enya - very soothing. Anyway, the object is to make words out of the scrambled tiles, and turn all the tiles blue in the process. There are, of course, wild letter tiles, and tiles that block you, and other fun surprises. There are over 50 tile configurations, and the difficulty can be set from normal, to hard to genius level.

After you download the game, you can play a one-hour trial version. After that, you have to pay. But, given all the great elements to this game, you might not mind.  Try it out here.

PictoPuzzle PictoPuzzle combines funny pictures and clever wordplay into a great family game. 

The clues are a series of clever picture clues. Double-clicking on the smaller picture brings up a larger image with a series of “fill in hte blank” squares. Look at the picture, then fill in your answer. If the letter is correct, it will be black. If it is not, it will be red. If you’re really stuck, there are 2 clues, then the answer.

And you might need the clues, and even the answer, because these pictures are plays on words. For example, one clue is a picture of men in striped jumpsuits sleeping in tents. The solution is the word “contents.” Or the picture is one of bears in a grocery store. The answer is “bear market.”

The only disappointing thing about this puzzle is that there’s no “yay” moment of completion. When you fill in the last clue, there’s nothing - no congrats or play again screen. But that doesn’t really take away from the great gameplay.

And it’s a great game to play with kids, too. My son and I solve a puzzle a day, and it’s really helping him with his vocabulary, not to mention his sense of fun!

White is Not Enough is a simple game by TonyPa that combines word puzzles with color-matching. For instance, in the example to the left, the clue is “No cream in my coffee.” The answer is obviously black. The object is to solve 10 puzzles in a row. Miss one, and you lose. Guess all 10, and you can start again with some new clues.

Some of the clues are easy - ____ jeans. Some are harder: “Saffron=___”. All the clues are fun, and the game is fast and replayable. TonyPa has designed a few games for his website, but this is the most interesting to me. When you reach the site, his games are in alphabetical order. Click on “White is Not Enough” until it turns red, then cick again to play it.

I love word games and this is one with a twist.