This is an interesting concept!
Even with the tutorial, it took me a while to understand what to do. After I played the game, I read the description text, and that was much more informative (fortunately by then I had figured it out). Even the tutorial didn't make it clear that I needed to end my turn. Perhaps the turn could end automatically once the player has done both moves?
I like how the menu has you use the game mechanic to pick main game or tutorial ... but I did sit there for a while thinking they were all buttons and unsure about what the difference was between "main game" and "play" was. Maybe have the "play" card animate a bit every few seconds to encourage clicking on it?
I couldn't figure out if the colors were relevant or not. Do words with the same colors get more points when attacking or defending? Or is it irrelevant?
I think it would be neat if there was a bit more strategizing to do (or maybe it was there and I just missed it). Like if you had some idea of what sort of sentence was coming up next, you might have a better idea of what words to hold onto instead of using them to shield?
Anyway, I enjoyed exploring the concept, and hat tip for actually using the jam theme!