A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this app.
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Educational Value
a lot
Kids can learn about vocabulary use, logic, and will get to practice spelling. To buy hints, they'll need to track the coins they earn and spend, which can provide basic addition, subtraction, and money management experience. The app doesn't offer much instruction; but it does provide definitions for words that are shown, so kids can find the meaning of any word they don't know. Definitions, along with prompts kids occasionally see, can also provide reading practice. The app, overall, features a number of opportunities to learn and practice skills in a fun, engaging way.
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Ease of Play
some
Gameplay isn't hard to figure out, but there aren't clear instructions, aside from a few tips that pop up during play; having a detailed reference that explains how currency and other elements work would be helpful.
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Products & Purchases
some
Kids see occasional ads, in-app purchases available from $0.99 - $49.99 per item. They can also pay $2.99 to remove ads.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that WordScapes is a word spelling game for iOS and Android devices. Gameplay is a mix of crossword and word search puzzles. There isn't a comprehensive set of directions, so players may be a little unclear about what they're earning when they finish rounds and what they're working toward. At least there isn't any inappropriate content, and gamers can't chat with or meet other people using the app. Players can spend real money to purchase in-game items like hints ranging from $.99 to $49.99, and they're subjected to occasional ads unless they spend a one time fee to get rid of them.
Where to Download
Community Reviews
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- Parents say (49)
- Kids say (7)
age 11+
Based on 49 parent reviews
Sue P. Adult
August 15, 2023
age 18+
p*rn ads during a word/education game? Ew
This app shows ads that contain p*rnography. I was so disappointed when I saw this. The game uses “Snow White” type characters, luring the user into thinking it is child appropriate. Shame on this company for allowing such advertising.
GM R. Adult
April 9, 2023
age 13+
Game okay, adverts inappropriate
The adverts are inappropriate which makes the whole app inappropriate. Frequency and maturity of ads continues to increase. It is one thing to be annoyed with the amount of ads, disrupting play over and over again. Now that the ads no longer match the innocence of the game, it’s game over for me with Wordscapes!!
Rate app
See all 49 parent reviews
Privacy Rating Warning
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
- Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
- Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
- Personalised advertising is displayed.
- Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
- User's information is used to track and target advertisem*nts on other third-party websites or services.
- Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisem*nts.
What’s It About?
WORDSCAPES combines elements of a word search game and a crossword puzzle. Players are given a few letters and are challenged to guess what words they could form; you can shuffle the order of your letters or purchase a hint for a 100 coins. There's no guess limit for a puzzle; to enter a guess, kids drag their finger across each letter in a word. Players can also click on a button to see word definitions. Puzzles are grouped into sections, such as forest and sunrise, that gamers move through as they complete rounds. Longer, more difficult words pop up as levels are advanced.
Is It Any Good?
Our review:
Parents say (49):
Kids say (7):
This word game app mixes in fun with learning elements to give players an amusing time that can educate gamers while it entertains them. In Wordscapes, players can scramble letters they're given to see if a different formation will spark some spelling ideas, and they can get a detailed description of targeted words, which helps elevate the game to more than a just-for-fun pastime. It's easy to play since you swipe to choose letters, and gamers repeatedly see positive statements after they've guessed all the words in a puzzle correctly, which provides encouragement to keep playing. They'll consistently get more challenging puzzles as they do -- puzzles progress from three to seven-letter words at higher difficulty levels, but these are phrases even little kids should be able to recognize. The real challenge when you're asked, at times, to come up with eight or so different words from just four letters, which sometimes seems impossible.
The only big drawback is Wordscapes' lack of clear instructions. It's fairly easy to figure out how to play, and there's a few quick pop up hints, but otherwise, there's no tutorial on how to play or what you're doing through the game. As a result, players won't know how they're earning coins (the app's currency for hints) or how levels are structured. Nor will they learn that you'll earn a couple of coins for some bonus words that occasionally pop up. There's also no randomly generated puzzles here; if you get stuck, you have to either spend your earned coins for hints or pay for additional help to get past the word you're having trouble with. That could make some gamers stop playing if they don't want to pay for hints, and also limits its replayability. But if you can overlook this problem and you want to give your brain a workout, Wordscapes is a fun little challenge.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about reading and spelling. What should kids do if they come across an unfamiliar word? What's the best way to find out what this word means?
Wordscapes lets users pay for a clue to help them guess a word, which can be a jumping off point to talk about spending and saving. How can your child determine what a good expense is, versus an unnecessary one?
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android
- Subjects: : letter or word recognition, reading, spelling, vocabulary, Math: addition, money, subtraction
- Skills: : logic, solving puzzles, strategy, thinking critically, Self-Direction: achieving goals
- Pricing structure: Paid, Free (Free download with optional in-app purchases from $0.99-$19.99. $2.99 removes ads.)
- Release date: January 17, 2020
- Category: Word Games
- Publisher: PeopleFun
- Version: 1.5.1
- Minimum software requirements: Requires iOS 9.0 or later and Android 4.1 and up.
- Last updated: May 29, 2020
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Wordscapes
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Where to Download
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