Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Watchword
Big Quail Games · Published by Big Quail Games
Positive — 91% positive (34 reviews) · 17 achievements
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
Watchword is the anagram roguelike. Strategically spell real and made-up words while using magical rule-bending books to score massively satisfying combos. Build your deck of letter tiles and find synergies in this endlessly re-playable twist on classic word games.
£11.79
Lowest price we've ever recorded
View on SteamPrices can lag the live Steam store — always confirm before buying.
Price history
Indie, Strategy, Casual · 2025 · More £5 - £15 games
Discover the thrill of crafting words and spells in Watchword, a 2025 indie strategy game from Big Quail Games where each letter tile can lead to endless play.
About this game
Watchword is a roguelike deck builder about playing words to beat increasingly difficult trials with rule-breaking synergies and combos.
[Watchword] is firmly doing its own thing—and it lowkey rocks. I played one game and I was hooked. -PC Gamer
A good vocabulary will certainly help, but it will mostly take careful planning and strategy to beat each trial.
Invent crazy new words and use special symbols to play a board that scores massively! Fill your bag and customize your collection of pieces.
Purchase books to ramp up your point scoring.
Each book has a unique power that can help (or potentially hinder) depending on what pieces you use. Some books completely change the rules of the game. Explore, and discover clever combinations!
Endlessly re-playable no two runs are the same. Chase a new build, unlock more difficult trials, and find hidden unlockables. After each trial, visit the Forum where you'll be able to upgrade your run, buy new items, and prepare for your next trial
Features
80+ Unique book relics: No two powers are the same. Add infinite repeat letters to words with "The Good Book" or focus on using new words with "Thesaurus". Each book has a unique strength that combos well with other books.
Randomize Relic Values: Feeling lucky? Edit books for a chance to perfectly align the item with your build.
Hundreds of piece variations: Single letter, double letter, metal, glitched, gold, and more!
Search for your Watchword: Try to spell a special word to expand the size of your board to make room for more powerful words in future trials.
Deckbuilding & Deck-fixing: In Watchword, you play lots of words and have plenty of opportunities to see the entirety of your bag. Build your strategy to shoot for certain words & synergize with specialized books.
Progression & Unlockables: Unlock new starting bags, difficulty levels, and books
Face the Watchguards: Each watchguard has a unique strategy to make their level uniquely difficult.
Made-Up Words: Watchword is the only word game where you can make up words to fit your strategy. Find forbidden books that blow the dictionary wide open.
Endless Mode: We seriously haven't seen someone hit the max yet. You could be the first!
Check your stats and shoot for new high scores: Go infinite and see your high scores go into the hundred of billions of points.
Extreme Replayability: Watch minutes become hours as you try to fit just one more word into your board and beat just one more run.
Planned Updates
Custom Dictionaries & localization
More Books
More Achievements
Much More!
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS *: Windows 7
- Processor: x86_32 CPU with SSE2 instructions, any x86_64 CPU, ARMv8 CPU
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated graphics with full OpenGL 3.3 support
- Storage: 350 MB available space
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: x86_32 CPU with SSE2 instructions, any x86_64 CPU, ARMv8 CPU
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated graphics with full OpenGL 3.3 support
- Storage: 350 MB available space
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Patch 1.1.2 & 1.1.3
1.1.2This was a minor patch to add some functionality I needed to demo the game at a indie game con. Nothing should have changed for regular play. 1.1.3Changed- Updated tooltip for The Good Book Bugfixes- Madam I'm Adam & Leafy House now trigger/retrigger with the correct orientation of the original word- Fixed a crash when a book was destroyed/added while owning Manuscript- Fixed a bug where certain pieces would not be selectable while bribing the watchguard- Fixed some interactions between Kool Katz, The Finalist, Good Book, and Optometry- Spellbook now triggers on discards that occur when scoring the board- Fixed a crash with Lunchline when scoring with lots of retriggersRemoved- EReader can no longer become Mimicry. (Lots of bugs keep showing up here, hope to add this back at some point but I'll disable it now for stability's sake)Thanks again for you continued support! More updates coming soon :)Read full article on Community Announcements (bigquailgames)Patch NotesOfficial
Patch v1.1.1
Bugfixes- Atlas is now actually displaying as editable- Reduced the number of letters required to get an upgrade from **Ancient Scroll** from 2 -> 1 (for reals this time)- On Steamdeck the keyboard should automatically show when you an input prompt is selected- Words played stats now showing in numerical orderRead full article on Community Announcements (bigquailgames)Patch NotesOfficial
Watchword Patch 1.1.0
Welcome to the first post-release Watchword Patch! Thank you for all the amazing support in these first few weeks! It's been so fun to hear about people playing Watchword, finding combos, and spelling so many wacky words! I have quite a bit more planned for updates, had a little delay in this one due to some family stuff but this update includes a lot of QOL changes, Bugfixes, and 5 new unlockable books! Added- Link to a "Word Suggestion" form on the homepage if you have specific words you'd like to see added to the Watchword Dictionary- Link on Main Menu to review the game! If you are enjoying Watchword it is immensely helpful to leave a review. This is the best way to support the long term support & success of Watchword!- Added more window sizes to Settings- New Trial Backgrounds! - Space - See the view from the moon - Underwater - Hope you can hold your breath for a long time! - Tropical Island - Lush & a little smoky- 5 New Unlockable Books! (Join the Watchword Discord if you want to see spoilers)- Added a few words to the dictionary that have been requested many times - boop, yeet, jank & variations- Added stat for "# of Watchwords Played"- You can now see full piece tooltips in the bag & in the Watchguard bribe menus Changed- Made it easier to open letters- Added a tooltip to the bribery option during trials- Updated curse tooltip to include the lose condition- Updated tutorial- Board view buttons (Word Helper & Hide Pieces) are moved to the right side and now look like other buttons in the game.- Added a popup if you try to close the menu without saving settings- Increased the gold required to unlock Wanted Poster 60 -> 100- Reduced Gourd of the Rings amp from 2.0 -> 1.5- Reduced the number of letters required to get an upgrade from Ancient Scroll from 2 -> 1- Increase the minimum word length for The Sniper from 3 -> 4- Increased amp on Frost River 2 from 3 -> 4- Increased marks on Frost River 1 from 30 -> 40- Atlas is now editable Removed- Removed hotkey ico...Read full article on Community Announcements (bigquailgames)Press Coverage
Use rule-bending books to build a massive score in anagram roguelike Watchword - out now
Build words letter by letter, while using magical books to bend the rules potentially in your favour in the anagram roguelike Watchword. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/09/use-rule-bending-books-to-build-a-massive-score-in-anagram-roguelike-watchword-out-now/Read full article on GamingOnLinuxAnnouncementsOfficial
Watchword releases TODAY!!!
Watchword is out - get ready to break the game! There will be a limited time 15% launch discount so don't wait!GET WATCHWORDIf you've played the demo here's what's new in 1.0.0:Endless mode80 books (with more on the way)Starting bagsStats & AchievementsCloud saveNew WatchguardsBugs & Feedback if you experience any bugs or want to contribute to future updates of the game, please join the discord!Thanks for all the love & support! I'm a solo operation so I appreciate your patience as I launch for the first time & I hope you love the gameRead full article on Community Announcements (bigquailgames)
