13 Best Word Board Games Reviewed for 2025
Grab your friends and test your wits with these 13 word board games. Fun, quick, and perfect for word lovers!
Ready to flex those brain muscles and have a blast with your friends? We’ve played a mountain of word board games, and we’ve picked the 13 best for our list. We focus on easy rules, replay value, laughs, and how much you actually get to play with words. Our picks range from fast party games to more thinky word puzzles. Some you may know, some might surprise you! If you love clever clues, guessing, fast spelling, or even wild scribbles, we’ve found a word board game you’ll want on your table.
On this list:
13 Codenames
We’ve played Codenames more times than we’ve lost our keys, and that’s saying something. This word party game is the perfect storm of word association, secret clues and moments where your friends hopelessly misinterpret your genius hint. It’s a breeze to teach and quick to play, making it a hit with almost anyone. The best part? Even the quiet ones get swept up in the drama of guessing weird word combos. If you want to laugh, argue, and occasionally question your friends’ logic skills, Codenames needs to be on your table. It works for word lovers and people who just want to have a good time. Plus, it’s so replayable, it never feels old.
12 Just One
Just One is the kind of word game that makes everyone feel clever, right before you all realize you’re hilariously unoriginal. We’ve lost count of how many times someone wrote the same clue, and the whole group groaned. It’s fast, fun, and always a crowd-pleaser—especially when you think you’re giving a unique hint like ‘fruit’ and three people go with ‘banana.’ If you want a word game that works with any group and supports up to seven, this is a must-buy. It’s as simple as writing a clue, but the wordplay can get delightfully tricky.
11 Letter Jam
Letter Jam takes the word game genre and adds a juicy twist—cooperative deduction! We sat around the table, staring at our clue cards, trying not to give away our thoughts as we made fruitless word guesses. If you enjoy spelling, deduction, and a helping of group frustration (the good kind!), Letter Jam will test your brains and your patience in equal measure. The cooperative aspect means everyone wins or loses together, and when you finally figure out your secret word, it feels epic. It’s challenging but rewarding, especially when you pull off a miracle word in the last round.
10 Bananagrams
Ever wanted to play Scrabble but didn’t want to wait for someone to take a billion years on their turn? We did, and we found Bananagrams. This word game is frantic, fast, and downright addictive. You’ll race your friends to create your own crossword grid, shouting ‘Peel!’ like you’re at a banana-themed bingo night. There’s no scoring, just pure, unfiltered word fun that’s perfect for families or friends who need to settle scores…with words. Clean up is easy—just stuff the bananas back in the pouch.
9 Word on the Street
Word on the Street brings a tug-of-war feel to word games. We loved frantically shouting out words that would rope as many letter tiles as possible to our side of the street. It feels like a spelling bee and a game show smashed together, with just enough tension to keep things interesting. The best part? The words can get creative (and occasionally questionable, if you play with that one friend who thinks ‘zqxy’ should count). It strikes the right balance between thinking and yelling, which is honestly our ideal board game night.
8 Decrypto
In Decrypto, you need both word skills and code-cracking chops. We sweated through every round, struggling to outwit the other team with clues that were cryptic but not too cryptic. The tension builds as you realize your clues are either helping your team or sending everyone straight into the arms of defeat. It’s word play with a dose of espionage fun, perfect for anyone who likes to stretch both sides of their brain. And trust us: it gets noisy, especially when you realize you just gave away your code…again.
7 Paperback
Paperback smashes deck-building and word-building into a clever word game that had us hooked. Every turn, you use your cards to make longer and trickier words, and buy better cards to win. Whether you’re a word nerd or just like a good mechanic, Paperback offers an addictive loop with a creative theme (you’re an author!). The best is when someone uses a wild card to spell ‘quixotic’ and looks smug for the rest of the night. Drawing cards, making words, and sabotaging your friends never felt so literary.
6 Word Slam
Word Slam is like playing charades, but instead of acting, you give rapid-fire word clues to get your team to guess. We spent half our time laughing at the wild phrases we cobbled together. If you like the rush of fast-paced party games and want something that tests your word skills without any spelling, this game’s for you. It works great with larger groups, and you can play for hours—or until you lose your voice. Bonus points for whoever comes up with the weirdest clue combinations.
5 Trapwords
Trapwords takes classic word guessing and throws in sneaky traps made by your opponents. We kept tripping over the hidden words and groaning as our team got stuck in the dungeon, again. If you want a word game with a heavy dose of sabotage, this is pure gold. It’s like Taboo with more evil laughter. Plus, the fantasy theme adds a charming twist—so if you ever wanted to play D&D but only do the word puzzles, this is your jam. Fun, fast, and full of fiendish traps.
4 Wavelength
Wavelength isn’t a classic word game, but the wordplay and clue creativity make it one of our favorites. As we argued about how ‘hot’ a ‘spicy pepper’ really is, we realized this game is about reading minds—and having a lot of laughs. The rotating wheel mechanic gives everyone a fair shot, and you never know what oddball clues your friends will throw out. If you want a word game with social deduction and lots of debate, Wavelength is a winner for all types of groups.
3 Pictomania
Pictomania blends word gaming with art. Don’t worry if you can’t draw, as we can barely manage stick figures—yet we still had a blast. Guessing everyone else’s doodles and having your own wild guesses was half the fun. Plus, it’s fast and silly, perfect for any group not afraid to laugh at their artistic disasters. If you like word games but want more variety, give this one a go—you might surprise yourself, or at least your friends when they finally guess that your blob was meant to be a cat.
2 Wordsy
Wordsy stands out with a scoring system that rewards those long, wild words that use the most letter options. It’s a free-for-all where spelling champs race to cobble together the highest scoring words with a constantly changing selection of letter cards. We enjoyed the quick pace and how it kept everyone involved every round—no downtime here. If you want a word game without fiddly rules, but lots of room to show off your word know-how, Wordsy is a great pick.
1 Scrabble
Scrabble is the undisputed king of word board games and has stood the test of time for a reason. We’ve spent countless hours battling over the triple word score, challenging questionable words, and trying not to flip the board when someone lands a ‘Q’ for 50 points. It’s the ultimate word game for anyone who loves a challenge, lets you flex your vocabulary skills, and still feels fresh after all these years. The strategy, satisfaction of a perfect tile placement, and pure joy (or rage) from a big play make it our pick for the best word game. If you only buy one word board game, this is the one.
