Word Solitaire
What makes a game relaxing
Some games call themselves relaxing and then fill the screen with countdowns, energy bars and offers. A game that really lets you settle in tends to share a few plain qualities.
- Nothing is ticking. You won’t find a timer here, so thinking is never penalized.
- Mistakes don’t sting. There are no lives, and you can’t fail a deal.
- Nothing breaks your attention. The website has no ads and asks for no account.
- It looks and sounds gentle. A painted landscape fills the view behind the cards, and every sound is soft.
- It stops when you do. You can walk away whenever you like, and the deals you have reached will be waiting.
Those are the qualities we had in mind when we made Word Solitaire.
A table with a view
Most word games put you in front of a flat grid. This one has painted scenery behind the cards, which gives your eyes somewhere pleasant to rest between words. The letter cards sit in front of it in tidy piles, and the table slowly empties as you play. There is a small satisfaction in seeing the table thin out.
The iOS app has eleven painted scenes, along with ten card decks.
If movement on a screen bothers you, turn on the reduced motion setting. On the website it also follows your device setting, so you may find it already on.
When you get stuck, nothing bad happens
Being stuck is where many puzzles stop being fun. A crossword clue can spoil an evening, and a classic solitaire deal can simply turn out to be unwinnable. This game takes that worry away, because every deal can be cleared.
You can always go back. Undo is free and has no limit, so you can retrace your steps one at a time. If you reach a table with no moves left, Back on track returns you to the last clearable table. If you would just like a hint, Peek lights up the cards of a word that works, and nothing bad comes of using it, other than giving up the third star.
So getting stuck becomes a pause and not a failure. You may even find that this is the part you enjoy, sitting with six letters until a word appears.
A gentle evening routine
There is no right way to play, but here is one way to spend a quiet quarter of an hour.
- Settle somewhere comfortable with a cup of tea.
- Open the daily deal and look at the letters for a while before you touch them.
- Play whichever words come to you, long or short.
- Finish the deal, then leave the others for another day.
If you’d like more than one deal, you can play Word Solitaire through the 50 website deals, and return to any you have reached. Going back to an old favorite is a pleasant way to spend a few minutes when you don’t want anything new.
Other relaxing games
Word Solitaire is the only game we host, and calm comes in many forms. If you are searching for relaxing games in general, these are all worth a look elsewhere.
| Game | Why it is calming | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Word Solitaire | No clock, a painted scene, and every deal can be cleared | You do need to think of words |
| Jigsaw puzzles | Steady, satisfying progress | A big one takes space or many sittings |
| Word search | Very little thinking needed | Can feel repetitive |
| Classic card solitaire | A familiar rhythm | Some deals can’t be won |
| Coloring apps | No right or wrong answers | Not really a puzzle |
Other pages to settle into
If you are choosing a game for a parent or for yourself, the word games for seniors page goes through text size and contrast settings. If you enjoy the feel of laying out patience, the word card game page looks at the solitaire side of the design.