Word games have been infamous on mobile devices since Alec Baldwin’s little hissyfit on a plane. They’ve been a personal annoyance to me for years for getting away with ripping off Scrabble.

Spellwood ($1.99 on the App Store and Google Play) is a fun twist in the genre that adds minor fantasy RPG elements. Its cartoonish characters — a sort of Animal Crossing meets Hogwarts — will appeal to kids and fanciful adults alike. And it’s a good alternative to Words With Friends for children or others with vocabulary challenges. Like

An iOS copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

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Tags: android, iOS, iPad, iPhone, ipod touch, spellwood, word games, words with friends