SpellTower

Fun and well designed, but ad heavy

I love the game, definitely a new favorite! But I do find the ad quantity overwhelming. Sometimes they appear after every word I submit! I have noticed after like 10 ads or something, they tend to stop themselves (screen flashes with an ad, then disappears before it really loads) which is welcome, and probably the main reason for not docking another star. That being said, I’ve really enjoyed the game! It’s very casual, and I like that there aren’t any timers (which can be fun, but also stressful) and the dictionaries used seem quite comprehensive! I’ve had a few words where I’ll be like “surely that’s a word”, but googling renders no results. But the fact you can challenge a word is nice (haven’t used it yet, so I can’t comment on it yet though)

Developer spams you with ads even when you pay

For some reason this developer feels entitled to charge you for an ad-free experience but also to phone home and spam you in the same apps advertising his other products. I was informed of this app by a huge, unavoidable ad chyron at the top of the Flip Flop app that I payed for (which, BTW, I can’t share—have to purchase for each device). I find that absolutely infuriating and will never give this developer another dime. I don’t understand why the developer feels he is entitled to more control of my device than I am and how he justifies lying about what are very, very clearly ads. He doesn’t even have the respect to give you the option of turning this “feature” off. Aside from aesthetic issues, there are very real privacy concerns. The only way my app can know the dev has a new product to hawk is if it is in constant contact with its creator. A game unconnected to an ad network has no business phoning home at all,ever—it is at the very least stealing your data for its own transmissions and very likely your personal info. Who knows what info the developer is collecting, how he stores it, and who he sells it to. Unfortunately, you can’t believe anything he says because he’s already established himself as a liar who will use you for his own ends.

A game I play every night!

This game is the only games I’ve paid for to unlock the full version! I love this game so much, my favorite mode is the puzzle mode but the others are fun too! I play the puzzle mode every night before bed as my unwinding time! It’s fun, straightforward, and not frustrating! I like trying to beat my high score but even when I can’t it’s one of the few games I don’t get frustrated with and will continue to play! It’s a very easygoing game, and I love the simplicity of the interface! The only suggestion I have is (in the puzzle mode) it would be soooo nice to have like at least one shuffle per game because sometimes the letter that pop up are all consonants or all vowels together and it’s impossible to make a word!! Other than that, It’s perfect! Love it!!

Good game, but frustrating

Fun game, but a few frustrations are making me wonder whether I’ll play much more. From minor to major: I wonder why sometimes it takes so long to show standings for the daily games. It’s often days behind. The ads can be a bit much. If not for the other issues, I’d probably buy my way out of the ads. The game just freezes for a few seconds pretty often - at launch, switching between game modes, starting a game. I mainly play on an iPad Pro, so it’s not exactly a a slow device. The absolute worst thing, though, is this: several times in Daily Search mode I’ve make a short word on my way to making a longer word, and even though I haven’t lifted my finger, the game will take that short word. And that’s it - no undo. Game ruined. Streak cut short. I’ve come close to rage-deleting the app when that happens.

Don’t buy the ad free version

Although the ads were annoying the ad free version is more fun on the puzzle mode. I thought I would buy the game so that I could get rid of the ads but then puzzle mood got really hard. They punish you for buying the ad free version by making it harder than the version with the ads. My friend who has it and plays it all the time has a really high rank score because she has the free version and the game is less challenging in puzzle mode. I can’t get anywhere on the ad free version in power mode! If I could go back in time I would’ve never evergiven the money to buy the game just because it would’ve been more enjoyable not to be so hard.

Excellent game, great modes, 1 suggestion for dev

This game has been amazing for the money spent. I have no issues with spending money on well-developed games that don’t abuse users through any timers or other gross tactics. Big fan of this game as well as Flip Flop Solitaire, another implementation of paid add-ones I was happy to pay for. 1 suggestion for my use-case: I live in NYC and frequent the subway. As such, I’ve discovered that the game is reliant on the internet to just open. I assume this is for the challenge and scoreboard systems to work and update properly. Would it be possible to be able to play offline in a future update, for just such an environment as the subway with no internet access?

Disappointed

When I started this game 3 years ago, it was really fun and you could go at it for a long time. Now the computer goes filling your new letters with the LETTER I in all spaces and it’s really BAD. There is no way to make a word with infinite letter I I I I I I one after another. So it defies the purpose of making you think and find new words. The computer just aims to frustrate you and make you fail. And I just paid for this game. I still have the old game you could go on and on. Not only that, the computer decides that if you have found a word before you cannot use anymore WHY? It is still a word. Also they have added the stupid numbers to force a word with 4 5. 6. 7 letters…… and the computer fills your letters with the letter I one after another. REALLY? I will love to see YOUR COMPUTER TO MAKE A WORD WITH SEVEN LETTERS I one after another! Very stupid at the end

Somewhat Frustrating

I don’t know what happened. I tried this game free with ads to make sure I enjoyed it. I was able to play puzzle mode for ages and build up a high score. It was enjoyable using enough words to where I had to start getting creative because I had already used so many words in the puzzle. Because I was enjoying this app I got the ad-free version. Since then it’s been very difficult. The scores I get now are one third of what my score was originally. I almost never run into repeating words in a puzzle. They throw in so many blank, “5”, and “6” letter tiles that it is impossible to play the puzzle for very long.

Love this game!

I am addicted to this game! I’m an avid reader, love words and enjoy adding new ones to my vocabulary. If you play the game often, it’s definitely worth paying for the ad free version. My favorite game is Zen in the expanded menu. There’s no time limit and I find it very relaxing. This isn’t a “word search” where you look for a list of words. It’s up to you to put the letters together in any connected, random way possible to make a word. I’m from the States but I love all the Scottish words in the dictionary. Try it - I hope you enjoy it as much as I. Thank you to the creator!

Nice, simple word game

I tend to be bad at these kinds of word-connect games, but I gave it a try anyway. It didn’t take me long to learn how to play, which is great. I love the chill background music and simple graphics. Some things could be tweaked, in my opinion. Like when completing a word, the pop up is too quick for me to read. But I didn’t encounter any bugs. I love that it seems like you just pay once to unlock the full game. No subscriptions or sounds to buy, as far as I can tell. So if you’re into word games like these, I’d suggest giving it a try!

... Zach Gage, the creator of Really Bad Chess and SpellTower. The Puzzmo team is offering early access to a select number of people each day...

TechRadar Thu Nov 02 2023

Knotwords Plus was developed by Zach Gage, an independent game developer who has made other puzzle games, like SpellTower Plus and Flipflop...

CNET Thu Nov 02 2023

... Zach Gage, the creator of hit apps including Really Bad Chess, Good Sudoku, SpellTower and Knotwords (and backed, for what it's worth, by...

The Guardian Thu Nov 02 2023

Following the wake of the Wordle phenomenon, celebrated puzzle game designer Zach Gage (creator of SpellTower and TypeShift) announced that...

GamesRadar Mon Oct 23 2023

The game hadn't been updated since 2017 and had compatibility issues ... Zach Gage (SpellTower) and Greg Wohlwend (Threes!) — back together...

Polygon Wed Aug 23 2023

In 2011, designer Zach Gage decided to try something different: make a game in a genre he hated. The result was SpellTower, a mashup of word...

The Verge Sun Feb 23 2020

A leaderboard in Spelltower+. Image: Zach Gage. When we spoke last month, Gage said that 17,000 words had been denied, while 1,600 had been...

Polygon Mon Mar 23 2020

Last summer, game designer Zach Gage — best known for mobile titles like Spelltower and Ridiculous FIshing — went for a walk with a friend,...

The Verge Sun Oct 23 2016

SpellTower just recently received a massive new update, complete with a new word list straight from Merriam-Webster. We sat down to talk to...

Inverse Thu Feb 23 2017