# WordStorm — user reviews > 160 indexed App Store user reviews of WordStorm by Sean O'Connor, rated 4.10/5 from 30 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wordstorm/id404366437/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wordstorm/id404366437.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 16 · 4★ 5 · 3★ 5 · 2★ 3 · 1★ 1 ## What do users think of WordStorm? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Great game for fans of the Bee - 🚀 Best word game out there - 👍 Perfect Simplicity - 👍 Entertaining & educational - 👍 Favourite game - 👍 One of the better word games - 👍 Terrific stress reliever! - 👍 Great game in need of a dictionary update - 👍 Excellent game, but has two issues - 👍 Delightful little brain burner **Cons** - 🐛 Good game but has issues with word list - 🐛 Frustrating word list - 🐛 Can't be both right and wrong - 🐛 Update your word list - 🐛 35 most common words?? No - 🐛 Unsatisfactory - 🐛 Frustrating, no help, terrible dictionary - 🐛 Needs improvement with word list - 🐛 Incomplete word lists - 🐛 Good words disallowed! **Commonly reported bugs** - Font size issue after update - Game of the Day not working as expected **Most requested features** - Sort found words alphabetically - Add a dictionary or definitions - Arrange words by length - Add a hint system - Allow all valid words, not just predefined ones ## Newest reviews (16 of 160) ### 3/5 — Good game but… *2024-06-11* I like this game, but this guy seems to think every word in the English language is slang. What does it matter if it’s slang? It’s still a valid word in the dictionary. It’s very frustrating! ### 4/5 — FAO Developer *2022-06-17, version 3.3.3* Text size now restored so I can now change font size. Thank you. ☺️ I discovered years ago you can change the text size by double tapping the screen. That’s very handy. This morning the font got changed inadvertently. Unfortunately it seems to be stuck on the largest font and I can’t change the font size. 🫤 Can you please help? ### 4/5 — Change the font size back! *2022-06-13, version 3.3.2* Love this game and play it every day. But recently the font size has changed and it’s VERY BIG - far too big in my opinion. There seems to be no way of adjusting it either now. Please bring the old style back… ### 2/5 — Font size huge! *2022-06-12, version 3.3.2* Been playing this game daily for years and love it but since the latest IOS update the font size is huge and I can’t change it. Makes it really hard to see now! Please fix 🙏 ### 3/5 — Great game but has two issues *2022-06-11, version 3.3.2* I love this brain teaser, but I don’t understand why it says something like “It’s a valid word but it’s not in our list”. That doesn’t make sense. It’s telling me that I’m correct, but I won’t get points for it. I also don’t understand the scoring system. A word with 6 letters can get a score of 3 points, and a word with 4 letters can score 6 points. And it’s not using rare letters like Q or X, etc. ### 2/5 — I love this game but ……… *2022-06-05* I play this game every day until at or above 70, but the scoring is not by percent. It is an arbitrary number based on difficulty with the easy words getting more points than the harder words. Ex. I was at 65% got three of the more difficult words as shown by their placement in the bottom of the list and have a new score of 68%. 3/35 total words should have added 8.5% to the score. Why not just assign each word 2.9%? ### 3/5 — Frustrating word list *2022-04-15* I like this game and play a lot (you can go back to years of puzzles) but it’s so frustrating because the developer’s word list is full of weird and archaic words and it doesn’t accept common really good ones. There is no way to get a hint if you get stuck and if you “admit defeat” it boos you! Then you reveal the “common” words you missed and they’re lame like beavering, rowel, bravi and inwove. Meanwhile it tells you that half the dictionary is slang and not valid, like binge and soccer. Many times I’ve found really good long words and it says it’s a valid word but not on the list and then I’m supposed to find these nonsense words that even my spell check has never heard of. I got it a day that it was free but I would be annoyed if I had paid for it. Needs work. ### 2/5 — Unsatisfactory *2022-03-06, version 3.3.1* Far too many legitimate words are not accepted, either because they’re slang or colloquialisms, or because they are simply not recognised – very discouraging! 😢🙄 ### 3/5 — Can’t be both right and wrong *2022-02-05* I started playing last month. I really began to enjoy the challenge of increasing my monthly average. Then I noticed I was repeatedly getting the reply that the word was VALID but not one of the solutions. Annoying, but not a disqualifier. What has me ready to delete the app altogether is that I have two correct solutions that use ALL the puzzle letters but trigger absolutely NO RESPONSE. I see the developer has many apps. Quality is better than quantity. ### 3/5 — Update your word list *2022-01-26* I dont know where you got your word List from but so many actual words are marked as colloquial or not words when they actually are. ### 3/5 — 35 most common words?? No *2022-01-13* The description says the solution will be 35 most common words that can be made from the 9 letters. That is never true. There will always be a few everyday words that are not part of the solution and a couple very unusual words. I’m sure that’s meant to make the puzzle hard, but it makes the description and instructions false. I’d give it more stars if it were truthful with the player. ### 4/5 — Word order *2022-01-09* Love the game, just wish there was an option to list words alphabetically instead of by difficulty/score. It can be annoying to enter a word only to have it accepted before I finish typing it. Example, wanted to type in defended but word was entered after typing defend. Only then did it accept defend with different endings. ### 4/5 — One of the better word games *2022-01-06, version 3.3.1* I do like a good word game, and this is one of the better ones I've played. The principle is simple, find words made from the letters shown. As a twist, any words have to contain the letter in the middle of the board. I pretty much have only two annoyances. One, I'd like to be able to see the words and placeholders in the solution grouped by the number of letters. As it is, it's really hard to see how many letters are in any remaining words. Two, and this really bugs me - the game goes to great pains to point out if you find a word that it considers 'slang or a colloquialism'. For one, it's inconsistent - 'scam' is considered slang, but 'snot' isn't? But also, what does it matter? If the word can be found in the dictionary, it should be valid in a word game. ### 2/5 — Deleted *2022-01-05* This is a game of picking only the words that the developer thought of. All too often I layout great words but the game doesn’t recognize them. I think the game needs a built in dictionary so it will know correct words when it gets them. ### 4/5 — Can’t access 2022 *2022-01-01* Been playing for years. First time this has happened ### 4/5 — Love this game but not really US English *2021-08-20* I love this game and play it every day. It’s challenging and relaxing. My one big complaint is that, although a player can select for US English, the developer must be thinking in British English. For example, the word “soccer” which is what Americans call the ballgame everyone else calls football, is not allowed. The game calls it slang. Please developer, soccer is a word in the US where football means American football. Also the word “pram” is considered a popular word. Not in the US. I have NEVER heard anyone use the word pram to describe a baby carriage or stroller. In fact most Americans will look at you blankly if you say “pram”. It is simply not used here. Please developer- check with US speakers. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — WordStorm changes *2022-06-13, version 3.3.2* For the past 13 years my wife and have enjoyed wordstorm, but no more. Like all software writers the world over you have lived up to the motto: “ if it isn’t broken we will fix it until it is”. Shame on you for taking a good thing and ruining it. If you don’t put it back to it’s original format I’m done! ### 1/5 — WordStorm *2022-06-11, version 3.3.2* New version worse. Can’t adjust font size of words and they are too big for iPad screen. Definitely ruins it for me. Disappointing! ### 1/5 — Нет Русского языка *2022-01-06* Уважайте Страну, где продаёте ваш продукт - где Русский язык ? ### 1/5 — Frustrating *2022-01-06* Does not recognize completely valid words. Sometimes it says “valid word but not included” fair enough, but mostly it just doesn’t respond. Each time I get to 95% and cannot get the last three words. There is no option to admit defeat and reveal what I missed so I looked up a word unscrambler and tried every single one; nothing! I tried 2 more; again, nothing. I wonder what “popular” words I and 3 computer word unscramblers cannot find. I love words and wanted a challenge that would be relaxing and rewarding, not annoying and frustrating. Deleting this game now. ### 1/5 — Not happy *2016-02-20, version 3.1.1* Why are all the puzzles now the exact copy of 2010's puzzles? 1st February 2016 is EXACTLY the same as 20th Jan 2010 and every day after that follows in 2010.RIP OFF! Where have the random games gone? Update said user interface update, nothing about having less games to play! Bring back the randoms. Its wrong to update and take away content that we have paid mone ### 1/5 — WordStorm *2015-12-23, version 3.1.1* Would be fun probably if one could play something. Screen comes up, calendar marks the days and there is no way to play or instructions. Also invalid contact for author so I wasted my money. No very happy and surprised Apple allows this quality on games. ### 1/5 — Problems with iPhone 6s *2015-10-01, version 3.1* Cannot get the day Windows to open with my new i6s. Love the game but can no longer play it until the developers fix it. ### 1/5 — Mean downgrade *2014-12-29, version 3.1* Still a nasty looking downgrade. Removing the random game function that people have already paid for is a mean sort of Christmas present. Especially as it was already restored once before "by popular demand" in version 2.1. And making a tiny change to the previous version to get the universally bad reviews off the front page is a pretty poor response to criticism. Come on Sean, how about restoring the version that your customers actually liked. This sort of game is more likely to be played by adults. Childish looking fonts and irritating score animations aren't likely to pull in a bunch of new kids. But you may well lose some of your adult following. I've already moved on to buying games from another developer. ### 1/5 — Lenorejb *2014-12-22, version 3.0* Since l updated Wordstorm several days ago, l can't open it with the icon on my ipad. It says the app is waiting. I have to go to the App Store and click on the 'open' button on Wordstorm. I don't like the new interface at all. Change it back to how it was before!!!! I do Wordstorm every day, but it has now been spoilt. Are the game developers going to listen? I'm sorry now that l updated it. ### 1/5 — Hate the update *2014-12-20, version 3.0* This was one of my favorite word games that I played most often. Didn't have any gimmicks. Now, however, I won't be playing it. Hate the update. Don't like the new, larger font, don't like the score flashing, in your face when you make a word, don't like the interface when you shuffle, don't like anything about it. Please go back to the original! It was a much cleaner interface. This update just muddied it up. I won't be recommending this app anymore. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Good Word Game *2025-08-02* Not too easy, not too hard. Love it ### 5/5 — Great game for fans of the Bee *2024-12-09* I’ve played this game regularly since it first launched (so many years ago). It’s comparable in my mind to NYT Bee, but you can’t use the letters more than once. ### 5/5 — Best word game out there *2024-06-23* Hands down Wordstorm is the best word search game out there. I’ve been playing this one for years now. It can be difficult, but if you can’t get it, there is a surrender flag, that populates all the words you’re missing. Great concept, well executed. Thanks ### 5/5 — Great game in need of a dictionary update *2024-02-26, version 3.3.3* Delightful little brain burner which has given me likely hundreds of hours of joy at this point. It’s held back only by what feels like an old fashioned dictionary in need of updating. When “buss” is considered the most common word on the grid (a word I’ve never encountered in my life) something is wrong, and many other seemingly valid words simply aren’t recognised. I would also prefer that scoring be weighted towards the less common and therefore harder words, or just evenly distributed, but I can see why the developer made the choice they did. ### 5/5 — Perfect Simplicity *2023-07-10, version 3.3.3* I love this game for its purity and lack of drama. My partner and I both play individually through the day and then collate our words to see how high we can get the score. My only issue was how small the words were when I changed to a new phone, but from the update note on here, I realised I could pinch to zoom, which solved the problem. Don’t change a thing - this app is great. ### 5/5 — Entertaining & educational *2022-06-26* I love this game. Keeps me thinking. One thing I’d like to see added is the ability to sort found words alphabetical so I can easily see if I already found the word. ### 5/5 — Favourite game *2022-06-18, version 3.3.3* FIXED - Thank you for the prompt response. ============== I’ve been playing this game regularly since 2012, but the latest update seems to have removed the ability to change the size of the font which is now fixed at an extremely uncomfortable to read large size … please correct ### 5/5 — terrific stress reliever! (its limitations are OK, but it has just a few flaws) *2022-01-12* What I like about Wordstorm—which has different rules than the similar Spelling Bee and NO hints (a good thing): (1) choice between US & British English, (2) only one puzzle a day, so you can't get obsessed with it, (3) keeps track of your daily scores in calendar format, (4) it's challenging, but not so much so that you can't get 100% every day, after a brief learning curve, (4) the letters you've already typed in light up in different colors, so you can easily tell what you've got left to work with, (5) little dotted lines show you how many letters there are in the words you haven't found yet, (6) tells you when a word is invalid either because it's slang or just not accepted (although it doesn't pick up on *all* the valid words), (7) no clock, so it's a real stress reliever for me: I complete it every morning before breakfast, so it's a great way to start off the day, (8) the sound effects are mildly amusing, but you can turn them off, (9) you can hit the surrender flag to see what you missed. Note: I haven't tried the 2-person version. If it adds a speed element, that would be a turn-off. And I'm hitting 100% every day anyway, so I'm not sure what the point would be.) KEY TIP: you *do* have to accept its limitations. You're solving for the words they accept, not the ones they don't. After a couple of weeks, I found the range of accepted words pretty predictable. For the most part, the game's limitations are a feature, not a bug. SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS: (1) please arrange the words you've found in ALPHA order, (2) be more consistent about accepting "er" endings of verbs. Why "iced" and "dicer," for example, but not "icer"?, (3) add a comment forum like the one the NYTimes Spelling Bee has, so Wordstorm fans can form a community. Thanks! ### 5/5 — So many words not accepted *2022-01-07, version 3.3.1* It’s a fun app. ### 5/5 — No sound *2021-11-30, version 3.3.1* iOS 15 appears to have broken sound for this. Rebooted etc etc. Still no fix. Would reinstall but would lose years of stats. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-27.*