Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Az
Relaxing word puzzle game for iOS
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Az launched in 2021; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 1TM
Here’s a free, fun, novel five-letter word game for the web! It’s a game I originally wrote for the iPhone in 2010, but wasn’t able to finish before my first child was born. When I left my senior web developer job in September 2021 I figured I would postpone looking for work and finish the game before another 11 years passed, and expose myself to new skills doing it (in this case, Swift). I released it on the App Store in December, then turned my attention to doing a web version — when suddenly Wordle was in The NY Times, and then everywhere. Perhaps foolishly, I plowed ahead and here we…
2022 · threemagicwords.app · its alternatives →
- 2OA
Hi everybody. I occasionally make little browser-based games, and this is my latest attempt. It's not quite done, but it's quite playable (note: it does include audio): https://www.omiword.com/ This has been my occasional tinker target for ~5 years now, starting in the early days of Covid. The objective is to drag letter tiles within certain boundaries to spell four common American-English words. It hasn't got ads or anything, it's just supposed to be fun for its own sake. If people happen to like it, I might add an option for folks to make a small, one-time payment to unlock…
2025 · omiword.com · its alternatives →
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Tough puzzles, riddles and trivia for your brain
2018 · its alternatives →
- 5

- 6

Play word puzzles with friends, learn and train your brain
2022 · its alternatives →
- 7HA
This is a game I wrote over the last month and a bit. The effort allocation was pretty different from what I've done in the past. The game design snapped together very quickly: I had the initial idea, played a couple of games on a spreadsheet to get a feel for the idea, and made one change based on those plays. After that everything felt just right through multiple rounds of playtesting. Likewise the puzzle generation is nowhere near as elaborate as in my previous game, fairly simple methods worked well and provided good variety. Instead I ended up spending silly amounts of time on curating…
2024 · huewords.snellman.net · its alternatives →
- 8

- 9SW
I just finished my first iOS game, Snack Words, which is a real-time, multi-player word finding game. iTunes link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snack-words/id425786167?mt=8&ls=1 YouTube video demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zPQuqoUHqU I wanted to build something very simple and minimal. There's no figuring out who to play, and each game is only 90 seconds long. The backend is 2,400 lines (so short!) of Erlang which speaks a custom protocol (length tagged JSON packets) to the client. The Objective-C side protocol implementation makes heavy use of blocks and works a lot like my…
2011 · its alternatives →
- 10M4
Well HN, I've finally produced something I think is worthy of sharing, but I didn't do it "in a weekend". Yeah, it's an iOS puzzle game. And yeah, it's a game I built because I wanted to play it rather than based on market research, so all this sort of makes it the antithesis of a popular HN post. But whatever. Still hoping for some of that patented (har har) expert HN feedback. Critique any part of it except the music. Also, PM me for upgrade codes, or I can post some here if there's any interest. Download (it's free):…
2012 · its alternatives →
- 11IB
It's like a mix between Picross (Nonograms) and Polyominoes. It's a minimalist puzzler which has no text, no tutorials (none required) and no ads set in a relaxing environment. App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/shapeuku-shape-puzzle-game/i... Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dtbgames.s... I have a bulk load of Android promo codes to give away, so if you'd like one let me know! (Sorry iOS users, I have no free codes left!)
2018 · its alternatives →
- 12IM
English is my second language. From my experience, I learnt that developing your vocabulary is a long and arduous process. Traditionally, learners used flashcards (or their digital incarnations). I wanted to build something more engaging and more effective in building your vocabulary. DictionaryGames is aimed mostly at ESL (English as a Second Language) students, but I am hoping it might be fun for any English language lovers. The project is in BETA, it is free, and no registration is required. I am looking for feedback to improve it. If you comment, please indicate if you are a native…
2025 · dictionarygames.io · its alternatives →
- 13AE
I built a procedurally generated word-search game where the puzzle never ends - as you scroll, the grid expands infinitely and new words appear. It’s designed to be quick to pick up, satisfying to play, and a little addictive. The core game works without an account using the pre-defined games, but signing up allows you to generate games using any topic you can think of. I’d love feedback on gameplay, performance, and whether the endless format feels engaging over time. If you try it, I’d really appreciate any bug reports or suggestions. Thanks in advance!
Dec 2025 · endless-wordsearch.com · its alternatives →
- 14MN
This is an idea I’ve been kicking around for a long time, and I decided to finally code it up. In the same way that Scrabble decomposes words into letters, what if there was a game that decomposed letters into sub-shapes? There’s a lot of directions this could go, and I’m still exploring the possibility space. Enjoy. Suggestions welcome. It doesn’t have a real name yet.
2024 · shovemedia.com · its alternatives →
- 15MM
If you're currently caffeinated you may or may not want to hop on to this zap-or-confetti mental math operant conditioning chamber Sorry for the low effort app slop but this is what you get haha Certified sound free because that sort of dopamine is just distracting
2025 · arithmetic-skinnerbox.lovable.app · its alternatives →
- 16SA
2017 · skiplit.com · its alternatives →
- 17

Remember patterns, test your finger speed and make art!
Nov 2025 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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- 19RM
Hello HN! I just launched a new social iPhone game called "unun". It's like drawsomething but in a puzzle way. You can also animate your puzzle and message your friend during the game. Would definitely enjoy any feedback so I can make it better! Feel free to check out the demo video and download it from appstore. Demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8aPmDej65s Download: https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/unun/id555254223?mt=8
2013 · its alternatives →
- 20MF
My first iOS game is released. It took me 2 weekends to develop and 9 day approval time. Here are a few promo codes. If you take a promo code, can you please also leave a review? Happy to answer any questions. An update is already being prepared for iPhone support as well as a more major update that adds difficulty adjustments and a "dreaded" twist :-) The Game: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pop-corn/id905859076?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 Promo Codes: F79LRP4JNWT4 X94XXNNW77E3 PEWJ77FHTME7 9PHN99RLLE6W
2014 · its alternatives →
- 21IM
Hi HN! In the last couple of weeks I've been working on Cranki: Cranki = Crosswords + Anki. (It's a stupid name tbh, haha) I like doing crosswords in Spanish (to learn vocab) but none of the apps out there allowed me to use my own list of words that I come across. So I built one instead. It's entirely client-side. No server, no database, no accounts, etc. Your words and stats are stored in local storage. I built this for myself but let me know if you like it!
Apr 2026 · cranki.app · its alternatives →
- 22

Hi everyone. I spent the last year making Puzzle Express. Play and discover puzzles as if you were scrolling reels: play if you want or swipe up to skip. Made this as a healthier alternative to doomscrolling and a great, new way to discover puzzles you might love. If you don't fancy endless scrolling, try to finish the daily missions or play your favorite puzzle in the arcade.
Jun 2026 · puzzle.express · its alternatives →
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