Play Word Munchers online — the original 1990 DOS game Works — the full original game runs via DOSBox in your browser
Guide updated October 2026 · Runs via DOSBox + WebAssembly
Word Munchers — the reading half of MECC's Munchers pair, from 1990. The rule at the top names a sound, like the long "a" in cake, and you munch every word on the grid that contains it while the Troggles hunt you. Click Play to start.
1–5: menu choices · Y / N: answer · ENTER: confirm · SPACE: continue
⌨ Keyboard — for menus & name entry
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard |
|---|---|
| Move the Muncher | Arrow keys |
| Munch the word you're on | Space |
| Menu choices | Number keys and Enter |
| Pause / quit | Esc |
Runs in your browser tab with DOSBox + WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded. Click the screen to capture input; press Ctrl+F10 to release mouse.
Word Munchers is no longer sold anywhere, and its publisher is gone or has left it unsold for decades. It is hosted here on the same footing as the Internet Archive's software collections. That is a practical position, not a legal claim. This page carries no advertising. Provenance: /apps/word-munchers/NOTICE.md. Rights holders: it comes down within 48 hours on request.
About Word Munchers
Word Munchers came out alongside Number Munchers and plays the same way: a 5×6 grid, one Muncher, a handful of Troggles, and a rule to satisfy. Instead of arithmetic, the rules are vowel sounds and letter patterns pitched at early readers. It is shorter-lived than its maths sibling, which most people remember better, but it was on the same school disks.
How it runs here
This is the original DOS release of Word Munchers, unmodified, running in DOSBox compiled to WebAssembly. The whole game is about 1 MB, so it starts within seconds on a normal connection. Sound and music play once you click into the game.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play Word Munchers online for free?
Yes. Click Play and the original 1990 DOS version starts in your browser, running in a WebAssembly build of DOSBox. Nothing to install and no account.
Why is Word Munchers hosted here?
Word Munchers is not sold anywhere today; we checked the stores listed in its provenance note. It is preserved here the way the Internet Archive preserves old software. That is a practical position, not a legal claim. If the rights holder (the successors to MECC and The Learning Company (HarperCollins)) asks, it comes down within 48 hours.
Does my progress save?
Saved games persist in this browser between visits, best-effort. Clearing site data removes them.
Can I play on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Touch buttons for the keys Word Munchers uses appear under the game on touch devices.
More you can play in your browser
Related guides
Want a game like this on your own site?
Word Munchers isn't ours to give away — we host it, we didn't write it. But eleven of the games here we did write from scratch, and those are free for anyone to put on their own page: one line of HTML, no account, no permission, no attribution beyond a credit line.