Upwords

About

Upwords is a single player action game. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

The Official UPWORDS Board Game!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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78%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,258 reviews

gameplay3 positive mentions

monetization129 negative mentions

Very challenging and addictive gameplay that offers a unique twist over traditional word games like Scrabble.
Good online multiplayer options allowing play with friends or strangers, with chat feature to communicate during games.
The app closely replicates the original board game mechanics and provides a fun, strategic word-building experience.

The dictionary is inconsistent and includes many obscure, archaic, foreign, or non-standard words, while excluding common valid words, causing frustration.
Excessive and intrusive advertisements disrupt gameplay frequently, with some ads being difficult or impossible to close.
App stability issues including freezing, crashing, slow loading times, and problems with notifications and user interface usability.

monetization
135 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
Monetization relies heavily on frequent, often intrusive ads that disrupt gameplay and cause freezes or crashes, leading to significant user frustration. While a reasonably priced ad-free purchase option exists, some users report issues with ads persisting despite payment. Overall, the excessive and sometimes inappropriate ads undermine the otherwise enjoyable game experience.
- “No ads... despite the description.. big ups to Daniel and his team.”
- “Easy, fun, no ads if you just make a one time purchase.”
- “Was very happy with Upwards on my computer, refuse to pay extra for no ads on my phone.”
- “Used to love playing this but 30 second ads between every move and constant freezing during the ads (which make them last over a minute) render this game unplayable.”
- “The ads are too numerous and interrupt the game constantly.”
- “The shear volume of loud, timed ads will send you quickly insane.”
stability
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
While the game is fun and challenging, many users report frequent freezing, crashes, and various glitches that often require restarting the app or device. Advertisements and loading issues also contribute to instability, detracting from the overall experience. Despite these technical problems, some find it mostly playable with minor bugs.
- “The game freezes frequently after ads and requires constant restarts.”
- “Almost non-stop buffering and glitches, with excessively long load times, making it possibly the worst app I've used despite its fun gameplay.”
- “Full of glitches, can't place tiles where I want to, can't put them back if I change my mind, basically unplayable.”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The gameplay is engaging and offers dynamic word transformations that significantly alter the board. However, users note some minor bugs and missing features compared to the iOS version, which slightly impact the overall experience.
- “Gameplay that can change the board multiple times over by transforming words.”
- “There are a couple of minor glitches that may occur during gameplay but overall the app works pretty well.”
- “Really enjoy playing this game but it is missing features from the iOS version that for me enhance gameplay a lot.”
graphics
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
Users generally find the graphics to be plain, unimpressive, and sometimes hard on the eyes, noting a lack of visual appeal. Additionally, there are discrepancies in graphics options between platforms, with some features available on Apple but not on Android.
- “Easy graphics and quick to get opponents.”
- “I love playing this game, but it doesn't have very good graphics.”
- “Now the font and the graphics are hard on the eye and I am barely playing.”
- “Graphics and all were plain.”
- “There is also a graphics option for Apple that is not available for Android.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music aspect is generally criticized for being unpleasant and repetitive, often occurring during intrusive full-screen advertisements that disrupt gameplay.
- “Every move forces you to watch an annoying full screen advertisement, usually with annoying music or other sound.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is considered tedious, as players must repeatedly move one tile at a time to attempt new moves, leading to a repetitive and slow experience.