You’re on a quest as Wanda the Spell Caster, fighting off mystical monsters with your mighty wand. The only problem is, that wand runs on Spell Scores, and if you can’t construct a word with a high enough score, the creature that stands in your path will overpower you.

What we love: The word game mechanics in Criss Cross Castle are familiar: draw seven letters, build words in a crossword puzzle grid and try to maximise your points by slotting those higher-valued letters into double- or triple-score spaces when they’re available. Yet, the challenge feels fresh, as the predetermined grids and minimum score requirements to defeat an enemy level up the difficulty.

Quick tip: When you lay down the tiles for one word, pay attention to which letters will be repurposed in subsequent words. Putting an X in the triple-letter spot will score you big points, but it may not be worth setting yourself up to find a word that starts with X in your next turn.

Meet the creator: This is the first launch from the Canadian-based women-led indie studio Simply Sweet Games.