The Need-to-Know About Word Tiles
Word Tiles, available for iOS and Android, is a falling blocks word puzzle game. Many apps use this style of gameplay, such as Word Stacks. Your goal here is to find words hidden in an assortment of letter blocks set in a large cluster. Much like word search games, this style of play challenges your ability to separate real words from letters randomly arranged in a grid.
A Relaxing Word Game
What sets Word Tiles apart from most other games in the same category is its focus on relaxation. BitMango, the developer of this and many other fun word games (including Word Cookies), took heavy inspiration from Wordscapes’ design and motifs.
Word Tiles is simplistic in all ways except for the actual puzzle design. There are no excess features, no overabundance of customization options and no multiplayer modes. You get puzzles, calming music and serene backgrounds. This game is tailor-made for players who want something to play that will reduce their stress levels.
How to Play Word Tiles
Learning how to play Word Tiles only takes a moment. The game’s first few levels serve as simple tutorials. Once you complete those, you are free to play as you wish.
Each level begins with a series of blank squares near the top and a collection of letter blocks near the bottom of the screen. The blank squares represent the words you must find to complete a level.
Over the blank squares is a clue for the type of words you are searching for. This is usually a theme of some kind. Examples include “Shiny Things,” “Kitchen Items,” and “Sea Animals.”
You find words by swiping across the letter blocks. You can form words from left to right, right to left, top to bottom and bottom to top. Once you find a word, those letter blocks will disappear, causing the remaining blocks to fall into a new configuration.
Fill every blank square to complete a level.
Play Daily Puzzles With Quotes
Once you’ve played the game for a bit, you’ll unlock the Daily Puzzles. As the name implies, Daily Puzzles are new challenges you can complete every 24 hours. The general gameplay is the same, but there is a change to how you get the clues for words you’re looking for.
Rather than providing a tip at the top of the screen with blank squares beneath, Daily Puzzles show you a quote with words removed. From that incomplete information, check the letter blocks and find the words needed to complete the quote. When you finish a daily puzzle, the Word Tiles rewards you with a bonus of coins, the in-game currency.
The Game’s Modest (Though Useful) Extras
The point of Word Tiles is to help you relax. That’s why there isn’t a lot of needless bonus material. That doesn’t, however, mean that the game is completely devoid of features. The Daily Puzzles are the first proof of that. To offer a more compelling experience, BitMango has added a few helpful features.
Game-Saving Power-Ups
The power-ups in Word Tiles are essentially the same ones you find in most other word games. This means they are reliable and useful. All you need to remember about them is that they cost coins to activate. So, don’t be too reckless with how you use them.
Hint: Reveal the first letter of a random word. This helps to narrow down which letter among the blocks you should start with.
Shuffle: Rearrange the letter blocks to help you find words you couldn’t see in the current layout.
Magic Wand: Highlight one of the letter blocks to show you the first letter in a word.
Coin-Generating Tools
Aside from completing levels, there are two helpful ways to earn extra coins. These are the Bonus Words and the four-leaf clovers.
Bonus Words: These are real words you can find in the letter blocks that aren’t part of the main Word Tiles answers. Whenever you find one of these words, the game adds it to a counter. Once you’ve found 25 bonus words, you earn free coins.
Four-Leaf Clovers: Sometimes, when you find one of a puzzle’s keywords, a four-leaf clover icon will appear from underneath. When you see a four-leaf clover, it is added to its own counter. After you find 32 of them, you earn a coin bonus.
Tips to Make Everything Fall into Place
While the game’s simplistic design doesn’t require you to learn too many techniques, there are a few strategies to keep in mind while you play. They will help you find any elusive Word Tiles answers.
Think about the theme: Once you know what the theme is, take a moment to consider that topic. There is no time limit in Word Tiles, so don’t worry about needing to rush things. Let your mind process the theme fully, then look at the letters. This will make it easier to subconsciously find the keywords.
Remember to read in every order: We read from left to right, but when playing this game, you need to remember that Word Tiles answers can be read in any direction. Read from left to right, but also read from right to left, top to bottom and bottom to top.
Spell any word you find: There is no penalty for spelling an incorrect word. Plus, any real word will be either part of the puzzle or added to your Bonus Word list. Don’t be afraid to try any word you think you see.
Figure out which words are blocking others: Sometimes, you’ll think you’ve found a word, but it actually has one more letter than it’s supposed to have. When that happens, it usually means another word is being spelled across that same space. Follow the path of blocks from that unwanted letter to see if it leads you to another word. Spell that one, then go back and spell the word that was originally blocked.
From Calming Words to Challenging Trivia
BitMango’s Word Tiles is a good game to add to your collection of relaxing and stress-reducing apps. It’s quite similar to Wordscapes in that way. Games that help people unwind are almost essential for anyone with a hectic schedule. That said, the need for more energetic games is equally high. A good game to play for that purpose is the official Jeopardy! app. This trivia game pushes you to think fast and find the right answers before time runs out. Play it whenever you want to add more excitement to your downtime.
Zac Pricener has been a content creator for the past eight years. He’s a bit of an all-around nerd, and he has a bad habit of working movie and TV show references into conversations whenever possible.
