Search for hidden words in the letter grid. Find them horizontally, vertically, diagonally, or backward, depending on the difficulty level you select. All the words listed on the right of the game. Tap and drag over the letters to highlight the word and check it off the list.  

Too easy? Set the game difficulty in the options menu to change the directions that the words are in. Want to up the challenge? Try timing your word search or hiding your word list. Looking to make the puzzle even harder? Try Maniac Mode!

WORD SEARCH TIPS & TRICKS

Don’t focus on the word list at first. Almost every word search puzzle will contain a handful of obvious words that’ll just pop out at you. There’s no need to even bother looking at your list of words until you’ve circled all the obvious words first and find yourself in need of some help.

Look for multiple words at the same time. Once you’ve found the obvious words, look at the list and try keeping two or three words in your head. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll stumble upon one word when looking for another one.

Leave the hardest words for last.  If you’re having a hard time finding a specific word, skip it and look for another one instead. A good strategy is to find as many easy words as possible quickly, and then use the rest of your time looking for the remaining one or two hard ones. Once you identify the easy words on the board, the hard words will become easier to spot.

Look for the last letters of the search words. Many people have an easier time looking for letter clusters than looking for the letters in the order they’re written. If you decide to look for letter clusters while doing your word search puzzle, look for the last three or four letters of the word instead of the first couple. You’re less likely to waste your time chasing false leads that way.

Say the word out loud. People find that saying the word they’re looking for out loud helps stimulate the part of their brain that’s thinking about the puzzle and looking for words. But be careful that you’re not in a place where you can embarrass yourself!

WHAT YOU LEARN FROM PLAYING WORD SEARCH

Much like in our word scramble game, players will rely on their spelling and vocabulary skills, as well as their ability to find words among scrambled letters. 

OTHER WORD GAMES

If you enjoy Word searches, try these other free word puzzles:

Hangman Hang on to your balloons! Guess the letters to solve the word puzzle and stay alive.

Daily Crossword Put down the newspaper and solve a new hand-crafted crossword every day. Find words down and across in this classic word-guessing game.

Unolingo Use each letter in the alphabet exactly once to solve this special crossword puzzle. There are no hints, so you'll have to really use your vocabulary!

How to play Word Search on your phone

To play Word Search easily any time, you can add it directly to your phone as an app. It’s a great way to play without worrying about losing your game save data.

For iOS devices, simply tap the "Share" icon in Safari and select "Add to Home Screen". For Android devices, tap the “Menu” icon and select "Install App".