Rules

Every way to score.

The whole rulebook in one place: how words clear, what they're worth, and every bonus the game can hand out. The numbers here come straight from the game's code.

• The basics
• Word points
• Multi-word drops and chains
• Clean Sweep & Wipe Out
• Bonus hands
• Word of the day
• The Daily word ramp
• Repeated words

The basics

• Letters fall one at a time into a board 7 columns wide and 7 rows tall. Tap a column to drop the current letter; the next 4 wait in the queue.
• A word of 3 letters or more clears when it reads across (left to right) or down (top to bottom). Diagonals and backwards words don't count.
• In the Daily and Classic, short words stop clearing as the game goes on. See the word ramp.
• Letters above a cleared word fall into the gap. If they spell a new word, that clears too.
• The game ends the moment any column fills to the top.
• Every word scores once per game. See repeated words.
• Hold parks the current letter for later. You get 3 holds a game; playing the held letter back is free.
• Hint lights the best column for the current letter. You get 3 a game.

Word points

Every word scores by its length. Rare letters add a little on top, and a word that fills a whole row scores double.

• Rare letters: +50 for each J, Q, X or Z, +20 for each K, V, W or Y.
• A 7-letter word across fills the whole row and scores ×2.

Multi-word drops and chains

One drop can clear more than one word, and letters that fall into the gap can spell new words, which clear too. That's a chain. Each step of the chain is scored like this:

From step 3 on, the combo card names the chain:

A word you play a second time scores nothing and resets the chain to ×1.

Clean Sweep & Wipe Out

Clean Sweep: empty the whole board with a drop and that drop scores ×2.

Wipe Out: do it when the board held at least 24 of its 49 squares beforehand, and that drop scores ×4 instead.

Bonus hands

Named awards for a run of good words, or one striking word. At most one fires per chain step, the one with the highest multiplier, and it multiplies that step's points. The multipliers come from simulating thousands of games: the rarer the hand, the bigger the reward.

Streaks

Read from your last few scored words of 4 letters or more, in the order they cleared. A 3-letter word breaks the run, so streaks are hard. Only one streak counts per clear.

• Hat Trick×2Three same-length words in a row.
• Grand Slam×2Four same-length words in a row.
• Echo×3Two matched pairs of word length.
• Stacked×3Five words split three-and-two by length.
• Staircase×4Three lengths in a row, like 4, 5 and 6.
• Rhyme Time×4Two words in a row that end the same.
• Alphabet Run×5First letters in a row, like A, B, C.
• Alliteration×6Five words in a row, same starting letter.
• Full Spectrum×6Every length, 4 through 7, in one streak.
• Perfect Set×6Full Spectrum, all starting the same letter.

One clear

About a single word, or the shape of one clear. These stack: every one that applies adds its bonus, together with a streak. Savior ×4 and Rare Find ×3 on one clear pay ×6, not ×12.

• Mirror×2A word that reads the same backwards.
• Rare Find×3Two or more of J, Q, X or Z in one word.
• Hinge×3A word across and a word down on one letter.
• Savior×4A word that clears just as you were about to lose.
• Double Dip×4Two words from one letter.
• Bedrock×6Clear the full bottom row, or 7 letters across.

Word of the day

Everyone gets the same word each day. Spell it anywhere on the board for a bonus, once a day in the Daily and once in Classic.

• Spelled down scores ×2; across scores ×1.5.
• Each day in a row you find it adds ×0.75, up to ×3 on day 4. Miss a day and the streak starts again.
• Once 3 letters in a line match today's word, shorter words inside that stretch wait until the whole word forms.
• Challenge games are a fair race on the same letters, so the word of the day is off in them.

Past words, with what they mean and where they come from, are in the word of the day archive.

The Daily word ramp

The Daily and Classic get harder as you play. Each stage allows a set number of words at its shortest length. Longer words are free. When they are used up, the shortest word that clears goes up by one.

A word that is too short turns grey and stays on the board, like a frozen repeat. The bar under the board shows your stage and how many of its shortest words are left.

A word longer than your stage needs earns words back: one for each extra letter. Earned words refill the stage up to the number it started with and never past it, so a stage never holds more than 20, 15 or 10 words. The longer word always scores its points.

Repeated words

A longer word that runs through a frozen word still clears.

Questions about a rule? See Support or write to support@unsaidgame.app.