Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2011

Oliver Rose says: “Hard to get around to ‘doing’ your flashcards? If you have an iPhone, you can play a game that is more engaging and really gets you processing the component readings and meanings of kanji. Kanji Wordsearch (www.kanjigames.com) also tracks your progress through the kanji and vocabulary lists, crossing off known words and giving more practice with those you missed. The game screen shows a grid of kanji containing a target word, and below the screen is the reading. If you make a mistake, a hint is revealed. If you still can’t find the proper character, the target word is revealed as the final hint so you can find it and move on. There are five words to find in each game, and at the end there is a review list of them all. The main screen shows an overview of progress in each of the six kyoiku kanji levels. These kanji link to flashcard-style reference views of the individual characters and their derived vocabulary, showing readings, meanings and progress rating.”