Words Crossword Puzzle for iOS

Words Crossword Puzzle provides a unique spin on the crossword puzzle that is at times challenging, and in many ways frustrating, but potentially rewarding for the right audience of word-puzzle lovers. Instead of supplying clues, Words Crossword Puzzle asks players to move a pile of letters into blank spaces to finish words already onscreen, in a sort of half Sudoku, half crossword variant.

The app starts with 30 puzzles, available in five languages, with the goal of taking a certain number of letters and placing them on a crossword grid to finish words that are already started. The challenge comes in because there are no clues to go with those words. The words are generally short and rudimentary, making the game less of a crossword puzzle and more of a guessing game because of it. The interface is as bare bones as it can get, and the ad is prominent and out of place on the screen, though never intrusive.

Because the core free game has so few puzzles and the difficulty doesn't increase until higher levels, the pro version ads will keep appearing, offering up to 250 total puzzles. It's a fair restriction, and for those that enjoy the 30 basic levels, it is a good upgrade. In many ways, this is a game that will appeal to a certain type of word game lover; casual gamers in general may be turned off by the inverted design of the puzzles.