SpellTower for iOS

By Zach Gage $2.99 Editors' Rating

Editors' Review

Download.com Staff Jun 20, 2012

Spelltower is a well-made word-puzzle game with a stylish feel and enough built-in variants to justify its price tag.

The gameplay should be familiar to word-game fans: you find words on a grid of letters, which you can trace over horizontally, vertically, or diagonally (even overlapping the path that you trace) to form words and remove the letters. Spelltower's innovation is stacking its grid in a tower--so that when you create a word, you remove all adjacent letters, dropping down all the letters above accordingly. This adds another satisfying layer of think-ahead strategy, as you're looking for not just good words, but good Bejeweled-style setups for future moves. The game also adds a few wrinkles with its special squares, such as dead squares with no letters, blue squares that will take out a whole row, and squares that require a minimum number of letters to form a word. Spelltower has a nice variety of modes, ranging from fast-playing frantic (with rows getting added from the bottom when you form a word, or on a timer) to the more perfectionist and meditative Tower Mode, in which you try to score the most points possible from 100 letters. The game also comes with a local multiplayer mode that lets you compete device-to-device over Bluetooth, with a handicap system for handling skill disparities--and we hope to see more multiplayer options in future releases.

Word-game fans know that execution counts for a lot given this genre's simple, repetitive gameplay, and Spelltower excels at that, with satisfying audio and visual feedback. Add to that its thoughtful game-design touches, and Spelltower is a great value for word-game fans.

Full Specifications

What's new in version 4.0.4

*4.0.4 - Hopefully fixed the crashing bug. It may crash one more time, but should not crash after that for affected devices.

==========

If you are still getting crashes, one possibility is corrupted data from the previous version. Please delete and reinstall. You will lose your data (and I'm incredibly sorry about this, it was not my intention), but the old data was stored in such a way that it could become corrupted and lost through a device update (getting a new phone or ipad) or through usual play (i received many reports of highscores sometimes returning to the state they were in days or weeks back in a current game).

I wish there was a better way to fix this, but the truth is the mistake was made 5 years ago with the old version you had and loved. I'm doing my best to fix that, but it seems like it isn't possible for every single device.

==========

- Brand new dictionary licensed from Merriam-Webster

- New Zen mode! Puzzle mode without those pesky length requirements

- Multiplayer is BACK and better than ever (now you can play over the internet, not just locally)

- 12" iPad Pro and iPhone 6 / 6+ support!

- Super Tower mode for iPad Pro 12"

- Updated visual design

- Option to disable pulsating warning bars

- Completely rewritten from the ground up with loads of bug fixes

Thank you for continuing to enjoy SpellTower over all these years!

*4.0.4 added in a notification for highscores

General

Release October 10, 2017
Date Added October 10, 2017
Version 4.0.4

Operating Systems

Operating Systems iOS
Additional Requirements Compatible with: iPhone4, iPad2Wifi, iPad23G, iPhone4S, iPadThirdGen, iPadThirdGen4G, iPhone5, iPodTouchFifthGen, iPadFourthGen, iPadFourthGen4G, iPadMini, iPadMini4G, iPhone5c, iPhone5s, iPadAir, iPadAirCellular, iPadMiniRetina, iPadMiniRetinaCellular, iPhone6, iPhone6Plus, iPadAir2, iPadAir2Cellular, iPadMini3, iPadMini3Cellular, iPodTouchSixthGen, iPhone6s, iPhone6sPlus, iPadMini4, iPadMini4Cellular, iPadPro, iPadProCellular, iPadPro97, iPadPro97Cellular, iPhoneSE, iPhone7, iPhone7Plus, iPad611, iPad612, iPad71, iPad72, iPad73, iPad74

Popularity

Total Downloads 581
Downloads Last Week 0
Report Software

Related Apps

Angry Birds 2 logo

Angry Birds 2

Free
Angry Birds 2
Monument Valley logo

Monument Valley

$3.99
Monument Valley

Candy Crush Soda Saga

Free
Candy Crush Soda Saga
Words With Friends 2-Word Game logo

Words With Friends 2-Word Game

Free
Words With Friends 2-Word Game

Developer's Description

Originally written about in the New York Times, featured in Apple Stores, heard about on NPR, and played by millions, SpellTower is back and better than ever. SMARTER. Forget that old iffy dictionary- SpellTower is now sporting the full official Merriam-Webster Collegiate, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged word sets. PLAYS better. Two new modes, Super Tower Mode on the iPad Pro, and Zen Mode for all modern devices. Need a break from those pesky length requirement tiles. Zen mode is what SpellTower fans have been waiting for. FEELS great. Full Taptic Engine support. If you're playing on a iPhone 7 or 7+, just wait till you make a 5+ letter word. LOOKS fantastic. Fully redone graphics pay homage to the original art while bringing SpellTower into the modern design era. Support for all new mobile iOS devices that have been released since the last SpellTower update (iPad Pro, iPhone 6 and 6+), and glorious 60 frames-per-second animation. Has LESS bugs. Debate mode works great and all the save-related bugs are finally fixed. No more finding your games periodically reset, or missing, after updating to a new device. Available in NEW languages. Available separately today: SpellTower Francais, and SpellTower Nederlands apps. More languages coming soon. It has been a long journey to get this release out, please enjoy it. zach. WORDS + STRATEGY = AWESOME. Pick your words wisely. As you work, more tiles rise from the bottom of the screen, and it'll take all of your lexicological wits, and tactical know-how to keep them down. If any of the letters make it to the top row, it's game over. SIX AMAZING MODES. TOWER MODE: No pressure here. Try and get the highest score possible out of 140 tiles, eliminating small words to set up 7- and 8-letter blockbusters. PUZZLE MODE: Every word you make adds a new row of letters. Strategic word finding at its best. EXTREME PUZZLE MODE: Puzzle mode with the minimum word length cranked up. Experts only. ZEN MODE: Puzzle mode without any length requirements. RUSH MODE: Rows of letters build up over time. Find words as fast as you can, but be careful you don't back yourself into a corner. DEBATE MODE: Feeling good. Challenge your friends in this intense online multiplayer mode. [Bonus.] SUPER TOWER MODE: (iPad Pro only) Try and get the highest score possible out of 432 tiles, eliminating small words to set up 7- and 8-letter blockbusters. GAME CENTER leader boards and achievements, for each mode, and highest scoring word. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING. Best Word Game. 148Apps' 2011 Best App Ever Awards. Touch Arcade's Favorite Puzzle game of 2011. Ranked #2 in Mashable's Top 10 iPhone Word Games. "Simple, stylish and furiously addictive. Far and away the best 'pure' word game on iOS. " 5/5 stars - Tap. Magazine. "I'm obsessed, I'm ignoring my family." - John Moe, NPR Marketplace. "guaranteed to entertain" - IGN. "by far one of the best [word puzzle games] in recent years" - 4.5/5 Stars - Editors Choice - 148Apps. "SpellTower is an extraordinary word game that deserves a place among the best of the genre." - 4/4 - SlideToPlay. "The Boggle Tetris That We Needed" - Kotaku's Gaming App of the Day. "A must-buy for word fiends, SpellTower is an uncommonly attractive and thoughtfully designed puzzler" - 9/10 - Gold Award - Pocket Gamer. "Nervy, humbling, and strangely energizing. If you can handle the stress, SpellTower is magnificent" - EDGE Magazine. "A superb word game. for anyone in your household who loves a good word teaser, even the most technologically-challenged. Grab it and start spelling." - JayIsGames. "It's Boggle on crack. only costs 2$, and your life." - Weekend Confirmed. "The best word game you haven't played", "A brain-picking puzzler" - Pitchfork / KillScreen Magazine. "I'm already convinced SpellTower is a significantly better game [than PopCap's Bookworm]." - playontap.com.
Promo image for CNET Shopping

Get the best price on everything

Shop your favorite products and we’ll find the best deal with a single click. Designed to make shopping easier.