Word Climb: a word-building game for 11+ verbal reasoning

About Word Climb

Word Climb covers the word-building side of 11+ verbal reasoning: move a letter, hidden words, missing words, word formation, compound words, word ladders and anagrams, and every climb meets all seven. Each puzzle is a pitch on the mountain face, with Camp 1 and Camp 2 on the way up. Below the summit comes the storm pitch, one harder puzzle with ten extra seconds: beat it and the rope races up the summit ridge.

A wrong answer is a loose rock: the rope slips back one hold and the trap is explained, but it never slips below a camp and every climb reaches the summit. Quick answers climb further, puzzles get harder after a streak and easier after slips, and the climbing log explains every trap at the end. Reach the summit with two slips or fewer to unlock Emberpeak, a volcanic peak with lava glow and ash storms.

How to play Word Climb

1. Choose a starting level: Trekker, Mountaineer or Summiteer.
2. Read each word puzzle and tap your answer: quick answers climb extra holds.
3. Get three right in a row to ride the jet stream four holds higher.
4. Beat the storm pitch below the summit to race up the ridge.
5. Read the climbing log at the end to see how each trap works, then climb again.

What it practises for the 11+

Move a Letter

Your child moves one letter from the first word to the second so that both make new real words, with the other letters kept in order. For example, moving L from FLAT to SIP makes FAT and SLIP. Learn the topic →

Hidden Word

A word is hidden across the gap between two neighbouring words in a sentence, with its letters in order. For example, ‘The children had bats and balls’ hides SAND in ‘bats and’. Learn the topic →

Find the Missing Word

Three letters next to each other have been taken out of a word in capitals, and those letters spell a word of their own; other questions ask for the word that best completes a sentence. For example, in ‘The cat caught a MO’, the missing word is USE, making MOUSE. Learn the topic →

Word Formation

Your child works out which words can or cannot be made from a set of letters, using each letter only once. For example, the letters of TEACHER make CHEAT but not CHAIR, because there is no I. Learn the topic →

Compound Words

Your child joins two words to make one new word, often choosing one word from each of two groups, or finds the word that fits in front of several others. For example, SUN and FLOWER make SUNFLOWER. Learn the topic →

Word Ladders

Your child changes one word into another one letter at a time, making a real word at every step. For example, COLD becomes WARM through CORD, CARD and WARD. Learn the topic →

Anagrams

Your child rearranges all the letters to make a new word, often one that completes a sentence. For example, the letters of LISTEN also spell SILENT. Learn the topic →

Move a letter, hidden words, compound words and the missing three-letter word are four of GL Assessment’s 21 verbal reasoning question types.

Try Word Climb questions

Questions from the game, for you to try together. Have a go before opening the answer.

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