Typeshift
Snappy word puzzles
Ratings
Age
4+
Category
Word
Languages
English
Sat Oct 16 2021
puzzle updates
Typeshift is a modern take on the word puzzle, combining elements of anagrams, word searches, and crosswords into a sleek, minimalist interface. In each puzzle, you are presented with columns of letters. By sliding these columns vertically, you must form words in the highlighted center row. The goal is to turn every letter on the board 'green' by using it in at least one word. While simple at first, the difficulty spikes when you realize you must find a specific set of words to satisfy the board's requirements. With daily puzzles and themed packs, Typeshift offers a cerebral and relaxing experience for anyone who loves linguistics.
Dinsun Expert Review
Our Expert Score
Typeshift is what happens when you strip a word game down to its most elegant, tactile components. Developed by Zach Gage—the mastermind behind Really Bad Chess—it feels less like a crossword and more like a combination lock for your brain. The physical sensation of sliding the columns up and down is incredibly satisfying, especially when you hit that 'click' of a word you didn't see coming.
What I love most is the 'Daily Challenge' and the 'Global' puzzles. It’s not just about finding any word; it's about finding the *right* words to use every single letter on the board. This turns a simple anagram hunt into a spatial puzzle. It's clean, minimalist, and devoid of the 'pay-to-win' clutter that plagues modern mobile word games. It’s a pure test of vocabulary and logic that fits perfectly into a five-minute break.
Features
Hundreds of puzzles and Daily Challenges
Clean, minimalist aesthetic with no distractions
Unique 'Combination Lock' gameplay mechanic
Clued puzzles for crossword fans
Stats tracking to compare your speed with the world
Syncing across devices via Game Center
Tips & Walkthrough
To complete a puzzle, every single letter in the columns must be used at least once. When a letter is part of a valid word in the center row, its background will change color. Look for 'anchor' letters like Q, Z, or X first to see what words they might belong to.
Often, you will find a word that turns several letters green, but leaves one or two isolated. You may need to shift your strategy and find a different, longer word that incorporates those leftover letters. The best players look for words that share common letter placements.
Gameplays
The game uses a unique 'dial' mechanic. You swipe up and down on individual columns to align letters. It feels like cracking a safe, providing a physical sense of discovery when a word snaps into place.
In some modes, Typeshift acts like a crossword. You are given clues for the specific words you need to find by shifting the columns. This requires both vocabulary knowledge and the logical ability to see which letters are available in which slots.
Screenshot
Q&A
It was created by Zach Gage, known for other innovative titles like SpellTower and Sage Solitaire.
Yes, if you are stuck, you can use a hint to reveal a word or turn a specific letter green, though these are often limited.
Ratings & Reviews
App Store Editors’ Notes
Invalid Date
Super fun, but....
Thu Nov 02 2017 CokanecolaThis is almost a 5-star app. Pros: The puzzles are fun and challenging. It’s a unique word game with many levels from super simple to massively hard. Once you get the hang of it, it can be addicting. If you like word games, this one is definitely worth getting. Cons: I would like the app better if it had more clue puzzles and the letters on the non-clue puzzles dropped off when they were no longer needed like in the clue puzzles. Also, when I’m stuck on a puzzle, I’ll go to the next puzzle and then come back, but I lose all the progress of the puzzle I’m on. With these minor fixes, I’d give it 5 stars. However, even with these small bothers, I highly recommend it to word game and crossword aficionados.
Free trial game
Mon Sep 14 2020 HehhbdeebThe developer definitely was a bit greedy. The game is set up as a way to get the player to buy IAP to unlock more levels as more than 95% of the game is locked behind Payable “level packs” it would have been so much better for this game to cost, let’s say, $4 with more levels unlocked to the player. It seems like a cash grab and is kinda sad because this developer could come to mind as a quality developer if they weren’t so obviously trying to get the player to buy into the game once it’s installed and not before.
Excellent word game with lots of content
Sat Sep 16 2017 CaplinROUSSliding letters to form words is much more clever than it sounds, and the provided puzzles vary between pleasingly light games, solvable tricky puzzles requiring thought, and bogglingly hard obscure sets. My favorite are the clue puzzles, which feel like a cross between crossword puzzles and anagram word puzzles. There are lots of solid puzzles included plus many more packs you can buy, so it does a good job at serving both casual players who want something cheap and obsessed fans who want lots of content. There are also daily puzzles that escalate in difficulty over the week.
Pop-up scam issue
Sat Oct 18 2025 VooguuI’ve used this app casually for years, I usually do the daily puzzle. Minutes ago, I received a pop-up scam while using the app…it visually masqueraded as a standard iPhone notification, very accurately so, and claimed ‘your phone has been hacked, immediate action is required, click here’ etc. Force-closing the program got rid of it so it was clearly from the program itself, probably an ad running from someone they receive money from. Clicking it would’ve likely led me to a phishing site or malware. This is unacceptable and you guys need to figure out who ran that scam pop-up because it’s going to turn off a lot of your users.
Missing something …
Sun Dec 03 2023 IphoneUser453When playing the daily puzzle (or puzzles of that style) the goal is to have used all the letters. There are a set of words you are supposed to find but once you have used each letter the puzzle just ends. It would be better if you could keep searching for additional words. Sometimes you might be looking to form a word and then accidentally form a different one and it feels like it ends the game early. This one gets three stars because it’s fairly unique but I’m always left feeling like it didn’t finish the puzzle even though the game says it’s done.
Ten stars!
Sat Nov 21 2020 57fpzBrilliant! This game is simple but challenging. But most of all it’s ELEGANT. There are lots of word unscrambling or jumble puzzles that are very good but this is head and shoulders above the rest. From it’s concept through to its presentation this game is thoughtful, creative, beautiful and a joy to play. Even the tumbling way that the letters are manipulated draws you into the play. If I could I would give it ten stars. The only hitch is that if you miss the free daily puzzle there’s no going back to past games.
Fun, poor interface
Fri May 21 2021 alliedamusicalThis is a very fun and addictive game - my favorites are the clue puzzles (wish there were more), and I am playing through them for I think the third time. My main complaint is that the UI could be much better. The "buttons" the bottom of the screen are very hard to use in"Gesture based" iPhones without a home button and voice control is not a viable alternative as voice control is not compatible with this app. Unfortunately, this also means that the last clue can be difficult to select in puzzles with many clues.
Annoying Loud Ads
Sun Jan 27 2019 LitariderDo you enjoy having your ipad suddenly blare ads? No, neither do I. Enjoyed the games for several days. Then I realized a few things: I could resolve puzzles by finding words that weren’t the core words, some words that earned credit weren’t words, not even the in-app dictionary, and some words which I unscrambled did not earn credit, despite being actual correctly spelled words. The app does count words that have been archaic since the 12 century (doubtful most of us or the app developers know those words), spellings and words that are rare, lesser known variants of words, technical words, and words specific to certain specialized disciplines and knowledge areas. I just got bored and would simply roll around the letters until the game declared I’d made a word. Basically, this game is just lazy. I don’t understand how apps get the app store spotlight and meet the developers. Do tell, Apple. Do developers get to pay for that placement?
