A word puzzle device, method and apparatus, is disclosed which is based on the popular "find a word," and "form a word" games. The puzzle employs logical structures to scramble an initial board display of characters, and requires a player to reconstruct the scrambled board before finding predefined words hidden in the display. The logical structures include a shift process, and a cause/effect process to change the position of characters in the display, or to replace characters with other characters based on predefined rules. When playing "form a word" game, a player is permitted to shift rows and/or columns, and/or activate control points to replace characters, to form as many new words as possibly can within a predetermined period of time. The puzzle device includes means to store a plurality of games, and input control mechanisms to enable a player to interact with the device. The device keeps a score that measures the player's skills in solving the word puzzle.