Learning a language doesn’t have to be all textbooks and studying hard. If you or your child struggle with too much conventional studying, try introducing some fun games to learn English.
Games can help with English vocabulary, grammar, and overall language skills – all without it feeling like learning!
There are plenty of free online English learning games to explore, suitable for adults and kids at all different levels. There are also many board games and fun activities you can do at home or in a classroom.
We’ll take a look at all of these in this guide to games for learning English.
The benefits of using games to learn English
Learning English can be hard, so it’s important to introduce a fun and interactive element to break up the more serious study time.
There are a number of benefits to using games for English language learning:
- Improved outcomes: Studies have found that game-based learning can improve learning outcomes and reinforce what has been learned. When learning is fun and engaging, you’re more likely to want to do it regularly.
- You can play them anywhere: Whether it’s an app on your phone or a quick game of hangman scribbled on a piece of paper, games are a great way to make your snippets of free time educational.
- Group games boost confidence: Playing games together encourages interaction and builds confidence – especially when you realize you are in a safe environment where everyone can make mistakes.
- They teach a range of language skills: From reading and writing skills to speaking and listening, the games and activities we’re about to cover will help students practice all aspects of their English learning journey.
Interactive online ESL games
We’ll start with some online games to learn English, since these are most easily accessible and cover almost every topic imaginable. However, they are broadly broken down into ESL grammar games and ESL vocabulary games.
Although some of these may be designed to appeal to kids, adults learning English can still benefit from them and even find them quite addictive!
Online English grammar games
Learning English grammar could hardly be described as fun, but these grammar games will help lighten the load and reinforce what has been learned in the classroom.
Proof It
Level: Intermediate
Highlights: Whether you’re a budding proofreader or just need help learning English grammar rules, this game presents you with a sentence containing exactly one mistake which you must identify and correct.
This will help you learn about tenses, punctuation, word choice, and spelling. There’s even a top 10 leaderboard that refreshes each day.
Learn English Today Word Games
Level: All levels
Highlights: There are several games for ESL students on this page, each with four difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, More Difficult, and Challenging. The ones that focus more on grammar are Jumbled Sentences, Matching Exercises, and Quizzes. The quizzes cover topics like prepositions, verbs, and possessives.
EnglishClub Grammar Games
Level: Beginner – Intermediate
Highlights: The ‘games’ on this website are more like mini tests, but we have included them because they cover so many helpful grammar topics. If you just need a simple way to check your knowledge of verb tenses, word order, and collocations, check these out.
Fun English Games Grammar Games
Level: Intermediate
Highlights: These are marketed as online grammar games for kids, but really they are helpful for anyone wanting to learn English online.
What is particularly good about these exercises is that they give explanations for each answer, whether correct or incorrect. So as you play the game, you learn from your mistakes and understand the rules better.
Vocabulary games to learn new words and improve spelling
English word games are popular among much of the population, even those who are not learning English. This is good news for English learners because it means there are many high-quality options that let you practice English vocabulary as you play online.
Alphabet Soup
Level: Upper Intermediate – Advanced
Highlights: Test your vocabulary and spelling with this simple game. You are presented with a series of words that are missing two letters each, and must think of all the possible letter combinations to create full words.
Sushi Spell and Wordshake
Level: All levels
Highlights: These two ESL games online from British Council both rely on you being able to form words from the given letters.
Wordshake is like a digital version of Boggle; you are given a grid of 16 letters and must make as many words as possible from them in 3 minutes. Sushi Spell is similar, but the words move along a conveyor belt and are refreshed as you play. Both are surprisingly addictive, and playable at any level.
Knoword
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Highlights: This simple game makes you recall words in English based on a dictionary definition. You are given the first letter of the word to help, but the time limit certainly creates some pressure as you type.
You can also use this platform to create your own packs of words, like digital flashcards.
MindGames Word Games
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Highlights: A variety of word games best suited to those who want to practice the words they already know. Includes a two-word version of the popular game Wordle, plus one that teaches English proverbs.
Games to Learn English
Level: Beginner – Intermediate
Highlights: This website’s games are mostly focused on grammar and vocabulary practice. There is enough variety to keep you entertained for a while, and the ads are not as intrusive as on some other platforms.
Board games for English learners
If you’re looking for games to learn English with face-to-face interaction, the following ESL board games should keep you busy! Most of these are suitable for children aged 8-10 and above, or anyone with intermediate vocabulary, but we have a separate list later on with ESL games for beginners and young kids.
Boggle
Highlights: This is the original, physical version of games like Wordshake. With Boggle, you actually get to shake the letters up and see where they land. Then, you set the timer and write as many words as you can from the letters on display.
Play solo to challenge yourself, or find some friends to play against.
Players: 1+
Play time: 90 seconds per round
Rewordable
Highlights: This word game will really push you to test your vocabulary and think creatively about how to form words. Each card contains 1-3 letters and you form words by placing cards together. You can also steal words from other players by adding to them. The longer the word, the more points you score!
Players: 2-8
Play time: ~30 minutes per round
Bananagrams
Highlights: This travel-friendly word game requires you to make words to create a crossword-like grid from the letters in your hand. It's a great family game and can be enjoyed by language learners with even a simple vocabulary.
Players: 1-8
Play time: 15-20 minutes
Balderdash
Highlights: Moving away from having to form words, in Balderdash you are required to define them. The twist is, players must make up their own definitions for each word to fool the other players. It's a fun way to use your language knowledge creatively.
Players: 2-6
Play time: ~45 minutes
Word Teasers
Highlights: This is a great way to learn new vocabulary words while also encouraging conversation. Packs are available with different levels of vocabulary, from very basic (Small Fry) up to SAT vocabulary, which is suitable for more advanced English learners.
Players: 1+
Play time: 5 minutes +
Dabble
Highlights: After being dealt 20 letter tiles, the aim is to place letters on the board to form words of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 letters. As you think of different combinations to make all the letters fit, you'll challenge your vocabulary knowledge as well as your creativity - a bit like a fast-paced version of Scrabble.
Players: 2-4
Play time: 5 minutes per round
Wordical
Highlights: This game is designed to develop word-building, spelling and vocabulary, but it's varied and challenging enough to be fun for native speakers, too. Each round, you are dealt cards containing consonants while a roll of the dice provides your vowels. Piece them together to form the highest-scoring word you can!
Although this is designed to be a multiplayer game, you could easily adapt it to play alone and stretch your vocabulary.
Players: 2-8
Play time: ~20 minutes
Gamified learning apps and websites
Another way to learn English with games is with gamified language apps and courses. These provide a more structured way to learn, while still making it feel like a game as you complete challenges and collect awards along the way.
If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, here are some fun English learning apps to check out:
Lingodeer
Great for going from Beginner to Intermediate level, the lessons on Lingodeer are grouped by topic and include games and quizzes. They emphasize the importance of learning grammar alongside vocabulary, even when you’re starting out.
Duolingo
Duolingo is one of the best-known language learning apps, especially when it comes to learning English through games. It encourages users to participate daily by having leaderboards and keeping track of streaks, and the fun cartoon characters make it visually engaging.
Gymglish
If you already have a basic grasp of English, the fun lessons on Gymglish are great for taking you to the next level and helping you correct any mistakes. Using AI technology, each lesson is customized to your personal needs and progress. Try Gymglish free for 1 month.
Quick and easy games for learning English at home or in the classroom
These games require very little preparation or equipment and can be played almost anywhere; ideal if you have a limited amount of time or need a fun English activity when you’re out and about.
Hangman
Level: Adaptable to any level
Requirements: 2+ people; pen and paper (or a whiteboard)
How to play: One player picks a word or phrase and draws a series of dashes to represent the letters and any spaces. The second player chooses one letter at a time. If the letter is present in the word or phrase, the first player must write it in wherever it appears. If not, a line is drawn on the ‘hangman’. The second player loses if the ‘hangman’ is completed before they guess the full word or phrase.
If playing with more than two people, the other players may take turns guessing letters. Choose suitable words or phrases according to the level of the group.
The Telephone Game
Level: Adaptable to any level
Requirements: 5+ people (or teams of 5 of more)
How to play: Make a line. The idea is to pass a secret message from one end to the other, each person whispering it to the next. This is great for improving listening and communication skills, and also reinforcing new vocabulary. Check out some fun telephone game phrases for inspiration and further instructions.
Word Association Acrostics
Level: Adaptable to any level
Requirements: 2+ people; pen and paper (or a whiteboard)
How to play: An acrostic is a puzzle or poem where the first letter of each word or sentence forms another word. You can turn this into a quick and easy English game by picking a word and getting the other person (or people) to turn it into an acrostic through word association. They can use single words, phrases, or sentences depending on their level.
For example, the word ‘Animal’ could end up like this:
Anteater
Nocturnal
Iguana
Mammal
Alligator
Leaves
Adjust the rules to make it easier or harder depending on the person’s ability. For example, you could make it so that all the words must be adjectives to describe the word.
Simon Says
Level: Beginner
Requirements: A small group
How to play: One person is chosen as ‘Simon’. This person must give commands to the rest of the group, but the group should only obey if the command begins with ‘Simon says’. For example, “Stand up” should be ignored but “Simon says stand up” should be followed. Anyone who incorrectly follows or ignores a command is out of the game.
This is an easy ESL classroom game but can also be played at home, while waiting for a meal at a restaurant, or anywhere else. It’s especially good to help teach verbs and parts of the body.
20 Questions
Level: Intermediate
Requirements: 2+ people or 2 teams
How to play: One person chooses a word and the other person (or team) has up to 20 questions to guess the word. Traditionally, guessers may only ask questions with a yes/no answer, but this rule may be relaxed depending on the level.
Restrict the word choice to specific topics or parts of speech if you want to focus on learning certain new vocabulary related to the topic. Use this word generator if you need some inspiration!
Word Jumble
Level: Adaptable to any level
Requirements: 2+ people; pen, paper, and scissors
How to play: Write a sentence on a piece of paper, then cut out the individual words and have the other person try to rearrange them. Adjust the complexity of the sentence to suit the person’s level.
This is a great way to help students learn about parts of speech and correct word order.
Do keep in mind that there may be more than one correct answer, especially if you are using adjectives, adverbs, and multiple clauses.
English learning games for kids
Finally, we have some fun resources for kids learning English.
ABCYa
ABCYa has tons of fun, educational games for kids from Pre-K to Grade 6. For kids learning English, games to check out include:
- Crossword Puzzle Maker (Grades 3-6+)
- Contraction Action (Grades 1-6+)
- Pancake Panic – Homophones (Grades 2-5)
There are loads of other interactive games to learn English, and the interface is modern and easy to navigate. It’s sure to keep young learners occupied for hours!
Pogo word games
There are some great interactive online English games for kids here. The different activities will help children practice their vocabulary and spelling and make learning more fun.
Be aware that only children aged 13+ are allowed to use the website without supervision, and entering an age younger than this when prompted will cause you to be permanently blocked from the site. Fortunately, these games are designed in such a way that they can appeal to teens and adults learning English, too.
Scrabble Junior
Highlights: A junior version of the classic game that requires players to spell words using their letter tiles. The 2-sided board offers an easy mode (with words already spelled out on the board) and an advanced mode (where you create your own words, just like the adult version).
Players: 2-4
Ages: 5+
Play time: 20-30 minutes
LearnEnglish Kids Games from British Council
British Council has a good selection of kids’ English learning games based on British English spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Some require greater comprehension than others, but each one is tagged with a level so you can easily find one suitable for your child.
There are separate pages with tongue twisters and jokes, which are also fun and easy ways for kids to develop their language skills.
The Fidget Game - Sight Words
Highlights: Children will love using this multisensory game to learn English - in fact, they may forget that they are learning at all. Players use the rainbow-colored popping mat to keep count of their score. The game contains five packs of cards with sight words (Dolch words) suitable from Pre-K to Grade 3.
Players: 1-4
Ages: 3+
Play time: ~15 minutes
Interactive word search puzzles & more
The ESLGames+ website is intended as a resource for teachers, so we recommend that parents help their kids navigate to a suitable exercise.
Once there, you’ll find a good selection of word searches, crosswords, sentence builders, spelling games, and more. It’s a great way to introduce classic word puzzles in a digital format.
If you would like some more gift ideas for kids learning English, check out our separate guide.
Final thoughts
We hope you enjoy these ESL games for adults and kids! Whether you’re learning English yourself or you want to encourage someone else on their journey, playing games is certainly a great way to make it more enjoyable.
You can find some more ways to learn English for free here.
