Word Games for Seniors: Free, Large Print

How to turn on Larger text

The scramble and the hangman each have a Menu button of their own, at the bottom of the desk or the front of the bench, for packs, categories, Settings and statistics. Larger text is not there. It is in the CozyWorld toolbar above the game: on a tablet or computer, the "A A" button labeled Larger text; on a phone, a row in the Game menu, which opens from the three-line button at the top left of the game. The Accessibility page has the same switch.

Flip it in the middle of a word and nothing is lost: placed tiles stay in their wells, guessed seed packets keep their stamps, and found words stay circled. In the scramble the first thing you will see is the tiles turning a paler oak with darker letters; in the hangman, the slate growing taller. The choice is kept on that device for every game that has the switch, with no account.

Cottage Word Search in large print

You drag from the first letter of a word to its last in a straight line, or tap the first letter and then the last, and a word can be selected from either end. A found word is circled in colored pencil and crossed off the word card. The four books add directions as the year goes on: Spring Cottage words read across and down, Summer Garden adds diagonals that read left to right, Autumn Harvest adds words that read backward or upward, and Winter Hearth uses all eight directions. A line under the grid always shows which directions are in play, and any puzzle can be played in any order.

With Larger text on, the letters fill more of each square of the grid, in a bolder weight and darker ink, and the grid stays as big as it was. The words on the word card get bigger and bolder, with found words crossed off in a thicker pencil line. The directions line, the word count, the clock, the cards and the puzzle books get bigger too. On a small phone the word card scrolls, and the words you have found move to its end so the ones still to find stay in view.

Hint circles the first letter of the first word in the list you have not found yet. A line that is not a listed word fades away with no penalty. There is a clock, but it only records your best time; there are no lives, and nothing happens when it runs long. There is no daily puzzle in this game. Your puzzles save on this device.

Teasel Lane Word Scramble in large print

A word lies shuffled on a rack of oak tiles, with its category on a clue card, such as In the kitchen or Birds. You tap the tiles, or type the letters, in order, and each goes to the first empty well. Every one of the 1,020 puzzle words was chosen so no other word in the list uses the same letters, so each has a single answer. Easy words have five letters, Medium six or seven and Hard eight to eleven, and every pack is open from the start.

With Larger text on, the tiles keep their size but are cut from paler oak, with bolder letters in darker ink that fill more of each tile, and more again in the wells, where the word you are spelling is over a quarter bigger. The clue card, Winifred’s remarks, the Shuffle, Clear, Hint and Skip buttons, the ribbon when a word is done, the packs, today’s ten, the unscrambler, Settings, statistics and rules get bigger too, and the study wall gets shorter to make the room.

A hint sets the next letter of the word in place, from the left. Skip asks once before it shows the word. If the row you made is not the word, it stays put so you can send a tile or two back and try again, and you only get a gentle remark. Nothing is timed in any mode. Today’s ten is a daily set of ten words, three Easy, four Medium and three Hard, played once each. The unscrambler on the same page takes up to 15 letters, with ? for up to three blanks, and lists every word they make.

Sorrel Row Hangman in large print

The word is chalked on a slate as one blank per letter, with its category above it. You tap a seed packet, or type a letter. A letter in the answer is chalked in everywhere it appears, and one that is not puts up a piece of a scarecrow in the bed. There are 735 single words and 377 phrases in seven categories, chosen as everyday words for grown-ups, with no brand names and nothing offensive.

With Larger text on, the slate grows taller and its chalk letters get bigger; on a phone held upright, less of the garden shows above it. The letters on the seed packets get bigger and bolder in darker ink, and a guessed packet gets a heavier stamp or a heavier strike. The count of misses is written in bold, and the category, Godfrey’s remarks, Hint, Show word, Menu, the ribbon and the sheets get bigger too. On a narrow phone the count of letters or words above the slate gives way before the category is cut, since the blanks show it.

You choose eight misses, the default and the gentler game, or the classic six, when some scarecrow pieces go up two at a time. Hint chalks in the first letter still hidden for the price of one miss. Show word asks once before it gives the answer away. There is no clock in any mode. Today’s word is one single word a day, played once, with a streak.

Large print word searches to print

CozyWorld also has printable word searches, if you would rather use a pencil. The large print word search page prints twelve free puzzles, the Spring Cottage book from Cottage Word Search, on 8 by 8 or 9 by 9 grids with big capital letters, one puzzle to a page. The same puzzles are in the game, so you can check your hidden saying there.

The printable puzzles page goes further: fifteen word search sets, including winter, Christmas, Christmas baking, cozy cabin, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, New Year, gardening, backyard birds, national parks and coffee. Each is one puzzle to a letter-size page, with the answer key on a page of its own, and you press Print or save it as a PDF. For a first printed puzzle, the page suggests the gardening or coffee set, whose words read only across and down.

Settings that help with reading or pace

None of the three has a clock that counts against you. Cottage Word Search keeps one that only records your time and stops when the game is paused or the tab is hidden, and the scramble and hangman have no clock at all. Cottage Word Search shows the directions in play on the word card, and Teasel Lane lets you turn clue cards face down in Settings if you want a harder game.

All three can be played with a keyboard as well as touch or a mouse: in the scramble and the hangman you can simply type the letters. Each saves your game in the browser on that device. Reduced motion is respected, and sound is optional in all three.

Which one to start with

Start with Cottage Word Search in the Spring Cottage book if you want to circle words in a grid: the words read only across and down. Start with Teasel Lane Word Scramble if you like working out a word from its letters and a category, and try an Easy pack first. Start with Sorrel Row Hangman for the quickest game, a minute or two a word, and choose eight misses.