WordsUp, a quick look at a new Scrabble styled game for Windows Phone and Windows 8

By George Ponder
last updated

WordsUp is a relatively new Scrabble styled game that is available for both Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices. WordsUp offers online and local game play with up to four players. The game also allows you to stack tiles on top of others, changing the words that are on the board to form new words.

In just playing WordsUp for a short time, it comes across as a challenging and fun word game that will not only test your skills at spelling but also has an element of strategery.

Available for low-memory Windows Phones, WordsUp offers you three gaming choices that include local (vs. the computer or pass and play) games as well as the ability to play games online. Online gaming with WordsUp does not require registration but lacks the ability to find opponents at random.

Instead, you'll need to invite players by email, Twitter, Facebook or text messaging. Those you invite will receive a network gaming ID and can jump into game play.

Game play is very similar to Scrabble where you are given a collection of letters that you have to build words from on the gaming board. WordsUp does allow you to stack letters to create or change existing words that are in play.

For local games against the computer, you can set the difficulty level from four settings (beginner, intermediate, experienced or expert) and set the players appearance color.

I liked having the ability to stack tiles to change or build off existing words from the ground up. For example, from the word "OOZE" you can create the word "CHOICE" by using a mix of stacked, new and existing letters.

Overall Impression

First impressions are good with WordsUp and the game comes across as a fun option for those looking for a local or network word game. The Windows 8 version allows the game to be played across devices so if your wife has an iPhone but a Windows 8 laptop, you can still upstage her spelling skills. The trial version is fully featured but you will have a "buy the full version" window pop up from time to time.

WordsUp is pulling down a 4 Star rating in the Windows Phone Store after four reviews, which is on the mark. If you try WordsUp, let us know what you think of the game below in the comments and make sure you rate the game in the Store to let the developer get a feel for things.

Please note that WordsUp is available for both Windows Phone 7.x and 8.x devices.

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

8 Comments
  • Windows central updated.
  • Not for me.
  • It's too expensive for a puzzle like that!
  • Looks nice, but really needs a better way to find opponents such as random or ranked. Competitors like Alphajax, Words By Post, and Words With Friends all have this.
  • Hi ericr42, Finding random opponents is pretty much the top thing on my "to do" list for the next version, so watch this space! In the meantime I've tried to make it as easy as possible to play network games against other people you do know, so hopefully it won't be too difficult to set up a game. Why not throw out a game invitation on to Twitter or Facebook and see who you can find? :-) Adam.
  • UpWords, not Scrabble.
  • I was thinking the same thing until I realized that unless they played board games in the 80's, most people wouldn't know what UpWords is until you described it as "like Scrabble, but 3D".
  • The article mentions playing cross devices...can you play across platforms? I'd like to be able to play against my friend that has an iPhone or one that uses android. Along those lines, does anyone know of any games out there (besides words with friends and words by post) that van be played cross platform?