You’ve found our list of the best letter games for adults.
Letter games for adults are board and card games that use letters to form and combine words. With letter games, players assemble words using letters assigned point values and compete to gain the highest score or use up their letters first. Though many letter games exist as board or card games, many are adaptable for online or whiteboard games for in-person amusement. Examples of letter games for adults are Scrabble, Wordle, Hangman, and Bananagrams.
These games are examples of team meeting games and virtual games to play on Zoom meetings. These activities are similar to communication games and vocabulary games.
This list includes:
- games where you make words out of given letters
- letter games for adults online
- letter board games
- fun alphabet games for adults
- missing letter games for adults
Here we go!
List of letter games for adults
From Wordle to Scattergories, here are some ideas for letter games for adults to enjoy with your team.
1. Scrabble
Scrabble is the all-time champion of letter board games. Players draw seven tiles at a time and attempt to make the highest-scoring word possible while crisscrossing their words with the letters already on the board. Uncommon letters like Q and J count for higher points, and tiles laid in specific spaces on the board can multiply the letters used and words created. Play continues until players have drawn all tiles and can no longer create new words with their remaining tiles.
It may seem like this crossword-style word challenge requires a healthy vocabulary for successful play. However, winning at Scrabble is often a matter of adding the right tiles to the right spaces, even when playing the most common of words.
Pro tip: For a fun new spin on the game, play with oversized letters to add a bit of movement to the game.
Buy Scrabble.
2. Wheel of Fortune
The beloved television gameshow also exists in online and board game versions, allowing fans to try to choose letters in concealed words and phrases to solve the puzzle on the board. Each wheel spin adds dollars which players use purchase vowels or save to maximize their score. After three preliminary rounds, the player with the highest total advances to the final puzzle, where the stakes are higher, and so is the challenge.
Though the Wheel of Fortune board game follows the concept in the television version, you can find fun variations for quicker online play at the Wheel of Fortune website.
Play Wheel of Fortune.
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3. Bananagrams
The classic tile-based word-building game Anagrams gets a whimsical switch-up with Bananagrams. Players draw lettered tiles from the “bunch” “n the “center of the table. When a player calls “split!” “all pl” yers try to arrange their tiles into a crossword grid using as many letters as possible. Once a player uses all their chosen tiles, that player calls “peel!” and all players to take another tile. The winner is the first player to place all their tiles in their grid after drawing all the tiles in the bunch.
Bananagrams is a fun, fast-paced letter game for groups of one to eight players. The simple rules are easy to learn, and the gameplay gives all players an equal chance at winning.
Buy Bananagrams.
4. Wordle
The online phenomenon that took the world by storm has become a letter board game for teams to play together. Wordle is a quick and easy web-based challenge that gave new life to fun alphabet games for adults. Players attempt to guess a five-letter word, starting with a random guess. Each correct letter in the first guess will turn a square from gray to yellow, while a correct letter in the right position will turn the square to green. A keyboard icon on the screen tracks incorrect letters by blocking them in dark gray. Players reason through the yellow and green letters and use the remaining letters on the keyboard to take their next guess. All guesses must be valid words for play to continue.
Teams with expert-level deduction skills will excel at Wordle. While vocabulary is essential for guessing less-familiar words, the ability to reason through letter sets that make up five-letter words will serve players well.
Buy Wordle.
5. Rewordable
Instead of using single letters, Rewordable is a letter card game that uses common letter combinations to task players with creating new words in each turn. Each of the 120 cards in the deck contains familiar one-, two- and three-letter sets that create recognizable words when connected to other sets. Players attempt to make words using their cards while earning bonus points by adding cards from their hands to expand words made by other players. The game also includes tokens that switch up the goals and change the strategy as the game unfolds.
Rewordable adds new life to familiar letter games by challenging players to think about language differently. Teams looking to expand their ability to strategize with a card-style letter game can enjoy a few rounds to see how well they fare.
Buy Rewordable.
6. Tapple
Tapple pushes players to think of categorized words alphabetically from categories chosen at random. A circular typewriter-style game board containing letters A through W guides players as they try to think of another term in the category. For example, if the category is “fish,” then player one might say “carp” and press the tab with the letter C. Players can no longer use this letter in their chosen words. Player two might say “bass” and press the tab with the letter B. Game play continues, with a timer counting down as players try to add their word to the list within ten seconds. The round ends when the timer buzzes.
Tapple adds a timed element to the quick-thinking alphabetic word association gameplay. Smaller teams can test their skills around a gameboard accommodating up to eight players.
Buy Tapple.
7. Boggle
A box full of lettered dice and a three-minute time is all it takes for a round of Boggle. Boggle lets players search forward, backward, up, and down to find their own words among a set of alphabet cubes. All lettered cubes that form a word must touch in some manner, either by the edges or the corners, and the player must be able to spell the word with a single line connecting all the letters. As long as the letter cubes touch, letters can recombine to create independent words or word sets, such as STAR, TAR, TARS, RAT, RATS, ART, and ARTS. Players review their words with the team and tally the score after the timer runs down.
With an exciting, shakable box-style game board and simple, quick-paced play, Boggle is an ideal letter game for teams short on time but still looking for some word-making fun.
Buy Boggle.
8. Upwords
One of the more challenging letter board games, Upwords gives Scrabble a twist by allowing players to stack letters over already-played words to create new words. Stacked letters receive a bonus score while using all seven tiles in a single turn will earn a player even more points. Where Scrabble rewards larger, more complex words, Upwords favors smaller words that can transform into other words with just an additional letter or two. As a result, the game becomes an ever-changing grid where no word is safe from changing into a new word.
The concept of adding letters to existing words is easy to understand. However, strategizing the right words to change with the letters is a fun challenges that take word games to new heights of complexity.
Buy Upwords.
9. Scattergories
Players can test their vocabularies with Scattergories, a letter game that unites seemingly unrelated subjects by their initials. In this dice and card game, players roll a multi-sided die to choose a letter of the alphabet. Using a card listing seven topics, players get three minutes on the timer to write down words representing each topic and start with the letter on the die. For example, if the dice rolls an L and the topic is “flowers,” then players could write lilies, lavender, or lilac. Once the timer stops, players compare their answers and receive one point per correct reply. Any responses chosen by more than one player are stricken from both cards.
Buy Scattergories and check out this collection of Scattergories lists.
10. Hangman
One of the best missing letter games for adults is also a favorite missing letter game for children! Hangman is easy to play and requires nothing more than a piece of paper, a pen, or a whiteboard and a marker for the more upscale players! The “hangman” choose” a word or phrase, draws a gallows, and makes a horizontal line on the board for each letter in the word. Then, players take turns calling out their guesses for each letter. Correct guesses score a point and add to the word, while incorrect guesses add a body part to the figure in the noose.
Teams looking for head-to-head Hangman competition can try the board game version, which allows two players take turns trying to solve the puzzle.
Buy Hangman.
11. Don’t Take My Word
Fun alphabet games for adults are rarely as colorful as Don’t Take My Word. This fusion of tile- and card-based letter games creates heated competition by allowing players to steal words from their opponents by adding letters. Players use lettered discs to create new words or use their letters to change words made by other players. The opportunity to snatch a word from another player is just a letter away at all times.
Don’t Take My Word is small enough to fit in a pocket or a desk drawer, making it a great option to keep on hand for impromptu game time during meetings or breaktime.
Buy Don’t Take My Word.
12. Word Crush
Word Crush combines the spelling challenge of a crossword with the tile-blasting dynamics of Candy Crush. Players search stacked rows of alphabetic tiles to find hidden words, some of which will only appear when other tiles disappear. The object is to remove the words in the intended order to clear the board. Clearing the wrong word at the wrong time will prevent players the remaining words from forming, blocking players, and ending the round. The concept is simple, but gameplay becomes more challenging with each advancing level.
Play Word Crush for Apple or Android.
13. Dabble
With its bold lettered tiles, Dabble may look like other letter games at first glance. But this word-making challenge has a twist that gives it a unique flair. Players have five minutes to turn 20 randomly chosen tiles into five words. The twist is that the words must be between two and six letters. Also, there can only be one of each length, meaning players will arrange and rearrange their tiles repeatedly trying to complete the set. The task is tricky, and with the clock running, what seems like easy work becomes a mind-bending spelling test for everyone at the table!
Dabble is a solid letter game for between two and four players, and with 148 tiles to choose from, there is plenty of fun for competitors of varying skill levels.
Buy Dabble.
14. Jabuka
Jabuka shakes up the concept behind games where you make words out of given letters! Each coffee bean-shaped tile holds a symbol that players can use as more than one letter. For example, a rounded 3-shaped character is an M when turned in one direction and an E when turned in another, while a plus sign shape can serve as a T or an X. The result is an updated version of anagrams that provides an exciting twist. Fans of letter tile games will enjoy a unique take on a classic format.
Buy Jabuka.
15. My Word!
This party-style letter card game is quick and easy to play and accommodates groups of between two and six players per round. The 55 cards in My Word! contain single letters and two-letter combinations that players use to create words. To play the game, the designated dealer turns the cards over on the table, while players scan the cards for three or more that complete a word. Players who find a workable set call out the word and collect the cards. Whichever player has the most cards at the end of the round wins the hand.
My Word! is a fast and flexible deck that makes an exciting way to end a meeting or get an office party started. To include even more players, you can combine two or three decks into a mega-deck and expand gameplay to the whole team.
Buy My Word!
16. Words Over Easy
In addition to an egg timer, Words Over Easy continues the egg theme with six egg-shaped cubes, each bearing a different letter on each of their four flattened sides. The cubes drop through a chute and separate into two groups, three “bad egg”” in a red tray and three “good eggs” in a green tray. Groups of four players must make words that use the three letters on the good eggs while omitting the three letters on the bad eggs. Again, vocabulary and attention to detail are key skills for completing the game successfully.
The randomness of the chute Words Over Easy uses makes for exciting new gameplay with every round. A deck of category cards adds even more complexity for players who find the general gameplay too easy.
Buy Words Over Easy.
17. Words with Friends
Words with Friends, one of the best-known letter games for adults online, allows teams who love Scrabble to take their gameplay digital while connecting with other players online. Players share a virtual Scrabble-style gameboard and take turns placing their lettered tiles in valued squares to make intersecting words. Unlike traditional Scrabble, players can earn tokens to buy hints for word placement, making strategizing more complex. In addition, team members can link up with each other for ongoing play and track their overall scores for tournament-style leaderboard fun.
Play Words with Friends.
Conclusion
Letter games for adults are a fun way to test your team’s team’s skills. Having a few games on hand will provide ready entertainment for meetings, team building events, parties, and moments when the team needs a pick-me-up when the workday is more draining than usual. Encouraging team members to connect through letter game apps can promote interpersonal connection and camaraderie.
Next, check out office game room ideas and office break room ideas.
