How do I create a multiplayer turnbased game server?

I have a simple turn based game, similar to words with friends or something like that.

Server interactions I think I will need:

• Creating games (with unique ids)

• Getting game state

• Updating game state

I don't really know what I'm doing but I think what I want is more akin to a database that I can make calls to to request or update it. If it is a standard game server that I want then I want it to be separate and not have a client also host the game.

My game state is simple enough that I would be able to describe in a database but again i'm really not sure if that's what I need.

If someone could point me in the right direction that would be appreciated.