How to Play

Wordist is a daily word puzzle. Place tiles, form words, and clear the board for the highest score.

The Board

Every game starts with three areas:

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Stage
5 slots holding your available tiles. Tap one to place it on the grid.
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Grid
A 5×5 playing area. Tiles fall to the lowest open cell in the column you choose.
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Tile Bank
50 hidden tiles. Each time you place a tile, a new one is drawn to refill the stage.

Placing Tiles

  1. Tap a tile on the stage to select it.
  2. Tap a column on the grid to drop it in. The tile falls to the lowest open row.
  3. A new tile is drawn from the tile bank to refill your stage.

You must place one tile each turn before you can submit a word.

Forming Words

Tap tiles on the grid to select them in sequence. Selected tiles must be adjacent — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Deselecting: Tap the last selected tile to remove it, or tap an earlier tile to unselect everything from that point forward.

Once your selection spells a valid word, you can hit Submit — or keep going. You may be able to extend your selection into a longer, higher-scoring word if the right letters are adjacent. When you're ready, submit the word. The tiles are removed, any tiles above fall down, and your score increases.

Claiming: When you discover a new word, you can claim it right from the game board. Claimed words earn you royalties every time another player spells them. See The Wordist Economy below.

Reading the Display

The control bar between the shift arrows gives you real-time feedback as you select tiles. Here's how to read it:

Valid Fragment

When your selected letters form the start of one or more real words, the display lights up:

CAT +8 12 (3 to 7)
CAT — your current selection
+8 — the points you'd earn if you submit now
12 — number of valid words that start with this fragment
(3 to 7) — the shortest and longest possible words from this fragment

This tells you CAT is submittable right now for 8 points, but there are 12 words starting with CAT ranging from 3 to 7 letters long — so extending your selection could score higher.

Dead End

If your selection doesn't match the start of any word, you'll see:

QZK dead end!

Deselect some tiles and try a different path.

After Submitting

After you submit a word, the display briefly shows what you just scored:

CATCH +24

Shifting

Use the left/right arrows to shift all tiles on the grid in that direction. Tiles slide until they hit the edge or another tile.

Shifting can open up new adjacencies and help you form words that weren't possible before. Your current tile selection may break if shifted tiles are no longer adjacent.

Scoring

Each letter has a point value. Rarer letters like Q, Z, and X are worth more.

Multipliers

Certain cells on the grid have permanent multipliers that apply whenever a tile sits on them:

3× Letter 4× Letter 5× Letter 2× Word
  • Letter multipliers boost the score of the individual tile on that cell.
  • Word multipliers boost the entire word's score. Multiple word multipliers stack additively.

Multipliers stay on the board after tiles are removed — plan ahead to reuse them.

Bonus Words & Word of the Day

Each day features a Word of the Day — a special bonus word. Spelling it earns extra points, bonus XP, and credits on top of the normal score.

Keep an eye out for the daily bonus word displayed before your game. It's a great target if the letters line up.

Wild Tiles

Wild tiles (marked with *) can represent any letter. They're flexible but worth 0 points, so use them strategically to complete words rather than for scoring.

Winning & Losing

Board Clear — WORDIST!
Empty the stage and grid completely to achieve WORDIST. No penalty, your score stands, and you earn bonus credits and XP.
Concede
Stuck with no valid words? Concede to end the game. The point value of every remaining tile is subtracted from your score.

Tips

  • 🧹 Clear tiles from the bottom of columns first to keep the board open.
  • ↔️ Use shifts to cluster tiles together before forming a word.
  • 💎 Land high-value letters on letter multipliers for big point swings.
  • 🃏 Save wild tiles for tricky spots where no regular letter fits.
  • 🏆 Aim for board clear — the endgame penalty for leftover tiles can erase a strong score.

The Wordist Economy

Beyond scoring, Wordist has an economy built around credits, XP, and word ownership.

Discovering Words

Every word you spell in a game is added to your personal dictionary. The first time anyone spells a word on the platform, it becomes discovered — unlocking it for claiming.

Claiming Words

Once you've discovered a word, you can claim it for the current season. Each word can be claimed once per season — first come, first served.

O.G. Claim
If no one has ever claimed a word before, your seasonal claim also earns O.G. status — a permanent badge marking you as the original owner. You earn 15 XP instead of 5.
Seasonal Claim
Claim a word for the current season. Costs credits based on the word's tier. You earn 5 XP and collect royalties for the season.

Word Tiers & Claim Cost

The credit cost to claim a word depends on its tier:

Tier Criteria Cost
Legendary 10+ letters, or contains J, Q, X, Z 15 credits
Rare 5 – 9 letters 30 credits
Common 4 letters or fewer 50 credits

Royalties

When another player spells a word you've claimed in the current season, you earn a royalty — 1 credit per use, automatically added to your balance.

The more popular the word, the more it earns. Claiming common, frequently-used words can generate a steady stream of passive income.

Earning Credits & XP

Credits and XP flow from many sources:

+100 credits Sign-up bonus
+10 credits Complete a game
+10 credits Daily bonus (first game)
+25 credits Spell a bonus word
+50 credits Achieve WORDIST
+25 credits Level up
+1 credit Royalty (per use)

XP determines your level. Every word you submit earns 2 XP, completing games earns 10 XP, and bonus words and claims award even more.

Seasons

Wordist runs in seasons — competitive periods that reset claim opportunities. Each season opens fresh seasonal claim slots for every word, so even words already claimed by someone else can be claimed again in a new season.

O.G. claims are permanent and carry across all seasons. Seasonal claims and their royalties last for the duration of that season.