Words Out

What is Words Out app?

It is much easier to pick up how to play Words Out by using it than it is to explain it. Essentially, players build up words one letter at a time. They must play each new letter they receive on one of the four existing partial words. If the letter they play still leaves the potential for a valid word, all is well; however, if there are no valid words with those letters, it is game over.

Players must think tactically about each letter as, while it might expand one partial word into a high scorer, it might be one of very few that would work on a shorter word. There are additional features that the player can call on to help them, including hints, wildcards and boosters.

A considerable strength of this particular word game is that it is not entirely random. Some games leave players at the mercy of bad luck, but Words Out only gives players a letter that can work with the already played cards. All players need to do is work out where—but there is always somewhere.

What we love about Words Out 

Words Out uses an extensive dictionary to determine if a played word is correct. At no point during this review of Words Out did the app reject a proper word. There were times that it accepted words that appeared to be wrong but consulting a dictionary showed them to be little-used but perfectly correct plays. Scrabble or Words With Friends players could undoubtedly use this app to help build up their knowledge of words that use unusual letter combinations.

The gameplay was fun and engaging. Words Out looks, feels and handles like a game but playing it gave a good mental workout. It was easy to get into a just-one-more-go mindset and find that time had passed quickly.

What skills does it improve?

Words Out is a word game, which helps with spelling and thinking about how letters blend to form words. While players may encounter new words, perhaps when they enter a letter in desperation, they will not find out what it means—just that it is in the English lexicon.

Puzzle apps, like Word Out, help players develop their perseverance and focus.

What age is it appropriate for?

Children could play the game of Word Out as the early levels involve building up short words. However, while the game itself is suitable for kids, the app is rated as 12+, as the advertisements are user-targeted and cover products related to subjects such as gambling.

Is Words Out easy to use?

Words Out is a very polished app that will not leave any players unsure how to progress. It has an effective tutorial level to learn how to play and introduces features gradually.

How will students benefit?

Words Out's presentation, contests, and play modes make it very attractive to kids who enjoy exercising their brains while playing computer games. The tournaments motivate those kids who like to see how their skills stack up against other players.

The single-player levels will appeal to those who prefer a more measured challenge.

How will teachers benefit?

Words Out is an easy game to pick up and play. The game is easy to understand and steps up the level of challenge at a fair pace.

How will parents benefit?

Kids want to play games on their mobile devices, but modern games can be violent, mindless, and hold players' attention through psychological tricks. Parents often want their kids to replace those games with something less aggressive and more thought-provoking. A word game, such as Words Out, is ideal for this.

Words Out is entertaining enough to keep kids occupied and provides an ongoing challenge to engage them. At the same time, it does not add to the violence that any modern game player sees frequently and, by drawing on thinking skills and literacy, it is undoubtedly not mindless. Words Out's gameplay is a good compromise between what parents and kids want in a game.

What can Words Out improve on?

Words Out is not alone in the world of Freemium apps of being a mentally stimulating game for kids but somewhat inappropriate for them due to the use of consumable in-app currency. Ideally, a cut-down version would be available for a set price.

Schools might not feel that they can use an app with such a payment model, and parents might worry about the overall cost or potential for their children to nag for more coins. A lockable children's mode available for a fixed price and a trimmed feature set would significantly improve kids' use of the app.

How much does Words Out cost?

Words Out is free to download and fully playable in this form. It is, however, an advertisement-supported app with the option to make an in-app purchase to remove them.

Both the ad-free and ad-supported versions use consumable in-app purchases to add to the in-game currency, which the user must pay to progress through the app's levels, enter tournaments, buy aesthetic upgrades, word hints, and more.

Players can earn the currency by playing and watching advertisement videos, but as playing any level costs coins, they are soon used up.

Is Words Out safe to use?

Words Out's gameplay content is suitable for kids with nothing inappropriate. During this review of Word Out, the app did not show any swear words, probably due to app monitoring. However, all word games have the potential to generate something phonetically close to unwanted terms.

The app uses advertising networks to display ads, and Words Out asks for permission to use tracking for serving those ads—although this is something you can block at the device's level. One way for players to earn in-game currency is to watch a video ad, which on the one hand, reduces the need to buy coins but, on the other, draws players' attention to whatever ads the app shows.

During this review of Words Out, the advertisements included some for social media and gambling. Consumable in-app purchases are not ideal features for an app downloaded for kids.

As a parent or teacher, you must decide whether you are happy to accept this mechanism. Although players can earn the in-game currency without spending real-world money, there are many features in the app that require the player to spend the app's coins.

Overall rating of the app.

Apps with an in-game currency are always a double-edged sword from an educational perspective, and Words Out is no exception. It is attractive, high quality, and has compelling gameplay. However, this is countered by the frustration of the pay-to-play business model.

As a word-game app for adults, it is excellent. It will fill journeys to work, lunch breaks and so on while giving their brain a workout. The advertisements are frustrating distractions for kids, and the in-game currency is a problematic feature for parents and teachers.

We've awarded the app three stars in recognition of its solid gameplay and quality presentation—if this review were not considering using the app with kids, it would score higher. As a parent or teacher, you should try Words Out for yourself and see how the game conforms with what you think is acceptable before introducing kids who might become big fans of it quickly!

You can download Words Out on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Words Out app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.