Beyond Words

Genre: Puzzle / Roguelike

Players: 1

.

Review:

Beyond Words, released in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, is a Puzzle game with Roguelike elements that is best described by simply saying this is Scrabble meets Balatro.

Much as in Scrabble, players are placing randomized letter tiles on a game board, both trying to create long words and to position those words on top of bonus multiplier tiles to enhance the score they produce, and much as in Balatro, this is a solitaire-focused game where players struggle to reach an ever-increasing score, with “boss” levels that restrict or hamper you in some way. To help you keep up with these increasing demands, each “round”, you’re given a limited number of placements and a limited ability to discard tiles to get new ones, and then between rounds you can purchase from a random selection of power cards that add bonuses and other enhancements (comparable to Balatro’s joker cards), booster cards that are spent for various one-time effects (like Balatro’s consumable cards), and perks that add a permanent enhancement to your abilities.

One thing that helps to set Beyond Words apart from Balatro is the way it makes use of the physical space of the game board, since bonuses placed on tiles may not just be score multipliers, they could potentially enhance your power cards, increase the multiplier for words of a specific letter count, even expand your available slots for power cards or other things. This means that you’re not just using the game board strategically to score points, you’re also trying to reach specific spaces to gain their benefits. Plus, making things more interesting is that your prior placements persist from one round to the next, meaning that if you had to take up space in a bad position to get to a score threshold before a round was over, you’ll have to deal with that word being in the way in following rounds. What’s more, every time you start a game, you can select a different game board, making that experience entirely different, with a completely different layout.

One area I where I think Beyond Words doesn’t quite live up to Balatro is in its Roguelike elements, which are still good, but it’s not quite as easy to find synergies as it is in Balatro. They’re there, but it takes some time getting your head around them, and the overarching strategy present in this game.

Another issue is the presentation, which not only lacks Balatro’s originality, but feels generic at times. The game’s 2D visuals are colorful, but don’t exactly evoke any sort of memorable style. Meanwhile, the New Agey soundtrack is actually pretty good, until you get to fanfare music and sound effects that seem to consist of fair use mobile-style sound files. A little more effort put into this game’s visual and sound design really would have gone a long way here.

It’s unfortunate that the presentation cheapens what is otherwise a really solid take on the Balatro formula, but even with this being the case, Beyond Words is still delightfully compelling, especially if you’re already inclined to enjoy games like Scrabble. Word nerds rejoice, because this is definitely a game you’ll want to pick up.

tl;dr – Bayond Words is a Puzzle game with Roguelike elements that’s basically a combination of Scrabble and Balatro, and the pairing generally works well, with compelling gameplay that makes good use of Scrabble’s game board to set this game apart from Balatro. It’s a shame the presentation feels so generic and cheap, but even with this being the case, this is a superb Puzzle game that’s well worth picking up, especially if you enjoy word puzzles.

Grade: B+

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