Games for book lovers
The best games for book lovers turn reading itself into play: a daily puzzle that starts from a book's first line, a story game you steer like an interactive novel, or a card game where you build words. Our picks are Title, Bookle, Bookidle and Wrodeo for daily puzzles, Sporcle for literature quizzes, 80 Days and DEVICE 6 for story games, and Paperback for word-building. Here is what each one is and what it costs, checked in October 2026.
How we chose. We looked for games where books or reading are the point, not just the theme of the art. In October 2026 we read each game's own site, and its US App Store listing where it has one, and we only state what those say. Ratings and prices are as of October 2026. We grouped the games by kind of play instead of ranking them, because a puzzle fan and a story fan want different things.
We make Title. We've tried to list it fairly: it is listed with the same facts as the others, and we say who it is not for.
| Game | Kind of play | Where | Price shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Name a classic book from its opening line | iPhone app | Free daily |
| Bookle and Bookle Covers | Literary Wordle, or a pixelated cover | Browser | Free, no signup |
| Bookidle | Blurred cover, or five clues | Browser | Free |
| Wrodeo | Fill in the missing words of a passage | Browser | Patreon membership adds past puzzles |
| Sporcle | Literature quizzes by staff and players | Browser, iPhone app | Free; optional Orange membership |
| 80 Days | Interactive novel | iOS, Android, Switch, Windows, macOS | $4.99 on the App Store |
| DEVICE 6 | Thriller told in text | iPhone, iPad | $3.99 on the App Store |
| Paperback Vol. 2 | Deck-building word game | iPhone, iPad | $4.99 on the App Store |
Daily puzzles for readers
Title
We make Title. It is a daily puzzle for iPhone built on public-domain classics, from Sherlock Holmes to Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein. Each day has one book and six clues. Clue 1 is the opening line, such as “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” You tap the title from a short list of candidates; a wrong pick is struck out and the next clue appears. There is no account to make, the daily puzzle is free, and the share card never gives the title away.
It fits readers who would recognise an opening by Austen, Brontë, Wilde or Doyle. It is not for you if you mostly read new releases, because every puzzle is a public-domain classic. (That opening line is Jane Eyre, by the way.)
Bookle and Bookidle
Bookle, on the book-discovery site BookTwin, is a Wordle-style game whose five-letter answers come from the world of books, and Bookle Covers hides a famous cover behind large pixels for six guesses. Both are free with no signup. Bookidle has two daily games, a blurred cover and a set of clues, and calls itself a free daily game. Our book guessing games guide compares these and more in detail.
Wrodeo
Wrodeo shows a quote or book passage each day with only some letters revealed, and you guess the missing words. Clicking a word reveals a letter, with a limited number of hints per puzzle. Its site says a Patreon membership adds more features, including past puzzles. It suits readers who enjoy prose itself more than plot.
Quizzes
Sporcle
Sporcle's literature category holds quizzes, some written by its staff and some by players, such as “Match the Book to the Film”. The site is free to play; its Orange membership, at $3.99 a month or $43.99 a year as of October 2026, makes its daily games unlimited and ad-free. The Sporcle iPhone app is free with a 4.7 rating from 4,061 ratings. For a ready-made set, try our classic literature trivia questions with answers.
Story games
80 Days
80 Days, from the studio inkle, re-imagines Phileas Fogg's race around the world, the journey from Jules Verne's novel, as a branching story with thousands of choices and 150 cities. Its App Store listing says it has no in-app purchases. It costs $4.99, with a 4.5 rating from 618 ratings, and inkle lists it on iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, Windows and macOS. It suits readers who like to steer a story, and who don't mind that it was last updated on iOS in 2018.
DEVICE 6
DEVICE 6 is, in Simogo's words, “A surreal thriller in which the written word is your map.” Paragraphs are rooms and longer sentences are corridors that you swipe along. Its App Store listing says it blends puzzle and novella, and Simogo's page says it is told in six chapters and won an Apple Design Award in 2014. It costs $3.99, with a 4.5 rating from 884 ratings. It suits readers who want a mystery where the page layout is part of the puzzle.
A word game for writers
Paperback
Paperback is a deck-building word game. Its App Store listing for Paperback Vol. 2 describes a game that “fuses smart wordsmithing with clever combos”, says it is based on the bestselling card game, and adds a cooperative mode and computer opponents. It costs $4.99, with a 3.5 rating from 48 ratings, the weakest of the paid picks here. We could not load the publisher's own site, so we have not described the physical card game.
Which one should you play?
- A two-minute daily ritual: Title for classics, Bookle or Bookidle for covers and newer books.
- Love of sentences: Wrodeo, or DEVICE 6 for a mystery told in text.
- A long story you control: 80 Days.
- Something to play with friends: Sporcle quizzes, or Paperback's cooperative mode.
If you like spotting a book from its opening, our list of famous first lines of classic novels is a good warm-up.
Title's daily puzzle is free: one public-domain classic a day, starting from its first line.
Get Title on the App StoreFrequently asked questions
- What games are good for book lovers?
- Daily puzzles like Title, Bookle, Bookidle and Wrodeo use opening lines, covers and passages. Sporcle has literature quizzes. 80 Days and DEVICE 6 are story games built around reading, and Paperback is a deck-building word game.
- What games do book clubs play?
- Shared daily puzzles work well: everyone gets the same book in Title each day, so members can compare results. Sporcle's literature quizzes suit a group, and a cover quiz with sticky notes over the titles needs no screen. Our classic literature trivia page has ready-made questions with answers.
- Are there free games for book lovers?
- Yes. Title's daily puzzle, Bookle and Bookidle are free, and Sporcle quizzes are free to play with ads.
- Are there video games based on classic novels?
- 80 Days by inkle re-imagines Phileas Fogg's journey from Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. Title is a puzzle built on public-domain classics, starting from each book's first line.