Freeware for Android and Windows · by Jon Welch

Word Hive

Twenty-five games in one free app: the Word Hive honeycomb, a five-letter guessing game, missing links, a nine-letter anagram, codewords, missing vowels, word searches, word ladders, Sudoku, Killer Sudoku, Calcudoku, Picross, two domino puzzles, Minesweeper, two numbers rounds, and Connect 4, Dots and Boxes, Reversi, Draughts, Battleships, Mills, Hangman and Backgammon against the computer or a friend. All with a proper British English dictionary, and leaderboards for friends and family.

Get it from Microsoft Become an Android tester See the games
  • Free
  • No ads
  • No tracking
  • Plays offline
  • Android 8.0 or later
  • Windows 10 or 11
Word Hive's honeycomb of seven letters, with a word being typed

How to play

  1. Make words of four letters or more using the letters in the hive.
  2. Every word must use the centre letter. Letters can be used more than once.
  3. Find the pangram: a word that uses all seven letters. Every puzzle has at least one.
  4. Climb the ranks from Beginner to Genius, and find every word to become Queen Bee.

Four-letter words score 1 point, longer words score 1 point per letter, and pangrams earn a 7-point bonus. In this hive, letterbox is the pangram.

Twenty-five games

A new puzzle in each every day at midnight, the same for everyone, with its own stats, streaks and leaderboard. Plus eight two-player games to play whenever you like.

Word Hive: a honeycomb of seven letters

Word Hive

Make as many words as you can from seven letters. Every word uses the centre one; find the pangram and become Queen Bee.

Honeycomb: three coloured guesses and a fourth being typed

Honeycomb

Guess the five-letter word in six tries. Pink means right letter, right place; gold means it's in the word somewhere else.

Link: five missing-link puzzles, two solved

Link

Find the word that joins two others: FOOT and ROOM both go with BALL. Five puzzles a day against the clock, with hints if you're stuck.

Anagram: nine scrambled letters, three placed

Anagram

Nine scrambled letters, one word that uses them all, like the Countdown conundrum. Every puzzle has only one answer. Race the clock.

Codeword: a numbered crossword grid, part solved

Codeword

A finished crossword with every letter swapped for a number. Crack which letter each number stands for, starting from three given.

Ladder: MOST to PULL, three steps in

Ladder

Turn one word into another, changing one letter at a time. Every step must be a real word. Can you match par?

Sudoku: a Hard puzzle part-filled, with notes

Sudoku

One new puzzle a day with exactly one solution: easy early in the week, hard at the weekend. Notes, hints and a fair clock.

Killer Sudoku: a grid of dotted cages with totals

Killer Sudoku

Sudoku with no starting digits. Instead the grid is split into cages, and each cage's digits add up to its total.

Calcudoku: a 6 by 6 grid of cages with sums

Calcudoku

Each number once in every row and column, and each cage makes its number with plus, minus, times or divide. Bigger grids later in the week.

Picross: a grid with number clues, part filled in

Picross

Fill in squares to match the number clues on each row and column and reveal the day's picture. Always solvable without guessing.

Dominosa: a grid of numbers with some dominoes ringed

Dominosa

A full set of dominoes laid out with the lines rubbed off. Work out where each one goes; every domino is used exactly once.

Pips: dominoes placed on coloured regions with rules

Pips

Place the day's dominoes on the board so every coloured region keeps its rule: add up to 8, all the same, all different and more.

Word Search: a grid of letters with words ringed

Word Search

Find every word in the grid. Across and down early in the week, then diagonally and backwards by the weekend.

Missing Vowels: five words with their vowels taken out

Missing Vowels

Five words with the vowels taken out, like CHCLT. Put them back. Every clue has only one answer.

Make 24: four number tiles and the four signs

Make 24

Four numbers, plus, minus, times and divide: make 24. Five sets a day, easiest first, with whole numbers only.

Minesweeper: a board part cleared, with flags

Minesweeper

Clear the board without digging up a mine. Every day's board can be solved by working it out, with no guessing.

Target: make 793 from six numbers

Target

A Countdown-style numbers round: six numbers, one three-digit target, plus, minus, times and divide. Every day can be hit exactly.

Connect 4: pink and gold counters on a board

Connect 4

Four in a row against the computer on Easy, Medium or Hard, or challenge someone in your hive and play live or a move at a time.

Dots and Boxes: lines between dots, some boxes claimed

Dots and Boxes

Take turns drawing a line between two dots. Close a box to claim it and go again. Don't hand over a long chain.

Reversi: pink and gold discs on a board

Reversi

Trap your opponent's discs between two of yours to flip them. Grab the corners and finish with the most discs.

Draughts: pink and gold pieces with a king

Draughts

English draughts: jump to capture (you must if you can), chain your jumps, and reach the far side to crown a king.

Battleships: two seas with hits, misses and a sunk ship

Battleships

Hide your fleet, then take turns firing at theirs. Sink all five ships first. Against a friend, neither of you sees the other's fleet.

Mills: a Nine Men's Morris board with pink and gold pieces

Mills

Nine Men's Morris, the old pub game. Place and move your pieces to make lines of three, and take theirs.

Hangman: a half-found word, a gallows and the alphabet

Hangman

Each picks a secret word, then race to find the other's a letter at a time. Against the computer or a friend.

Backgammon: pink and gold checkers on the board, with dice

Backgammon

Race your fifteen checkers home and off, hitting their blots on the way. Against a friend, the server rolls the dice.

Everything you'd want from a daily puzzle

Inspired by the puzzles you already love, but written for British players, and free of ads and tracking.

🇬🇧

Proper British spellings

Colour, theatre, grey and realise all count; American spellings don't. Plurals, proper nouns and rude words are left out, so every answer is a fair one.

📅

A new puzzle every day

The same daily puzzle for every player, from midnight. Want more? Play unlimited random puzzles.

🐝

Beginner to Queen Bee

A rank bar shows how close you are to Genius, and finding every word makes you Queen Bee.

💡

Hints, not spoilers

See how many words are left by their first two letters and by length, without giving the game away.

🏆

Daily leaderboard

Compare today's score with everyone. The server checks every word, so nobody can cheat their way to the top.

👨‍👩‍👧

Private hives

Create a hive for family, friends or your club, send the invite link by email or WhatsApp, and get your own leaderboard.

💬

Hive chat

Chat with your hive in message bubbles, reply to each other, and get a notification when someone posts.

🌙

Pink, light or dark

A cheerful pink design that follows your phone's light or dark mode. Works with a keyboard too.

✈️

Plays offline

The puzzle and dictionary live on your phone. No sign-in needed; the online extras are entirely optional.

Take a look

Swipe or scroll through the screens.

Today's puzzle
Today's puzzle
Finding the pangram
Find the pangram
Hive leaderboard
Leaderboards
Hive chat
Hive chat
List of found words
Your words
Hints
Hints
Dark mode
Dark mode
Supporting Breast Cancer Now
Play for a good cause
Tilly the dog wearing a pink tutu

Play for a good cause

Word Hive is free, and always will be. If you enjoy it, please consider a donation to Tracy Welch's JustGiving page for Breast Cancer Now, the UK's breast cancer research and support charity. Pictured is Tilly, dressed for Wear it Pink.

Donations go to the charity through JustGiving. None of the money goes to the app's developer.

Donate on JustGiving

Help test Word Hive

Word Hive is nearly ready for Google Play. Before it can go public, Google asks for a group of testers to try it first, and that's where you come in.

What testing involves

  • You'll get an email invitation, then install Word Hive from Google Play as normal.
  • Play the daily puzzle when you can, and keep the app installed for at least 14 days.
  • Tell me about anything odd, or anything you'd like to see. Every bit helps.
  • New versions arrive automatically through Google Play.

Bring your family and friends: testers who create a hive together give the leaderboard and chat a proper workout.

Google Play can only invite testers by the email address of their Google account, usually a Gmail address.

What are you looking forward to? (tick any)

Your details are only used to send your tester invitation and to contact you about Word Hive. See the privacy policy.