Guide
How to play Wordtide
Wordtide is a free word game on one endless board that everyone shares. Build words with seven tiles, hook them onto other players' words, and watch the map grow. You can learn it in two minutes.
Your first word in 60 seconds
Step 1: Grab seven tiles
A fresh rack the moment you arrive. Drag tiles onto the board, or tap a square and type.
Step 2: Hook onto any word
Build off the words other players left behind. Every new word has to touch the world.
Step 3: Score and stay
Bonus squares multiply your points, and your words stay on the map for everyone to find.
The shared board
Everyone plays on the same infinite board. Every word anyone plays stays, and the next player builds on it. You get a rack of seven tiles. Put some of them in one straight line, across or down, so that they make a word and join tiles that are already on the board.
Place a tile by dragging it onto the board, or by tapping it and then tapping a glowing green square. The words you make stay on the board, coloured for your Tide (team).
- All the tiles you place in one move must be in a single line, with no gaps.
- Any other word your tiles touch has to be a real word too.
- Your first word can found a new island. After that, your word must touch your own tiles or land within six squares of one, so you build near your own territory.
- Play all seven tiles in one move for a 50-point bonus.
Scoring and bonus squares
Every letter has a point value. A, E, I, L, N, O, R, S and T are worth 1, a few are worth more (K 4, W 4, V 5, X 7), and J, Q and Z are worth 9. Add up the letters, then apply the bonus squares your new tiles cover. Squares that were already covered do not count again.
- Double letterThe letter on it counts twice.
- Triple letterThe letter on it counts three times.
- Double wordThe whole word counts twice.
- Triple wordThe whole word counts three times.
- StarCover it with a tile to win back a heart.
A blank tile can stand for any letter, but it scores 0 points. When your move also makes other words (crossing words), each one scores too.
Biomes
The board is not one flat colour. It is made of nine biomes: Harbor, Meadow, Ocean, Glacier, Dunes, Volcano, Crystal, Sakura and Night City. New players start at the sheltered Harbor. Each biome has its own look and its own mix of bonus squares. Glacier has the most double letters, Volcano is the richest in triple words, and Crystal has the most triple letters. Fly away from home to find a different landscape.
Hearts and hints
- Hearts. A run starts with three hearts, and you can hold up to five. One heart grows back every 15 minutes.
- Swaps. Every fifth word you play earns a free swap. After that, swapping all your tiles costs one heart and swapping some of them costs half a heart.
- Stars. Cover a star square with a tile and you win a heart back.
- Hints. Stuck? Tap the lantern and Wordtide lays out a word you can play. Prefer a pure challenge? Turn on Pure mode in your profile: no hints and no move ratings.
Daily Seven
Everyone gets the same seven letters each day. You have three tries, and your best word counts. When you finish you see how you did against par, and you can share a result that shows only coloured squares, never the letters, so nobody gets spoiled. An archive and calendar let you practise past days.
Solo Journey
Solo Journey is 100 hand-made puzzles on 8 islands. Every level has a goal and a limited number of moves. Meet the goal for one star, score more for two and three. The last level of each island is a boss level.
- Harbor Shallows teaches the basics.
- Meadow Isle adds rocks that tiles cannot sit on, so you build around them.
- Glacier Reach hides gems under the ice. Cover every gem square to win.
- Amber Dunes hides a secret word in every level, with a clue. Finding it earns a bonus star.
- Ember Peaks has a tide clock: reach the goal early and spare moves earn bonus points.
- Crystal Caves mixes everything you have learned.
- Blossom Cape: a big island with 20 levels and a halfway boss. Every level has two beacons, and one word must join them.
- Starlight City: the other big island, also 20 levels with a halfway boss. It sets letter goals, such as playing your whole first rack or many different letters. Its last level is the finale.
Little Tide
Little Tide is a picture-and-sound mode for children aged 3 and up who cannot read yet. Tidy the otter shows a picture, says the sounds, and your child traces letters with a finger and spells picture words tile by tile. Every word they finish grows a flower in their Garden. There is no chat, no timer and no way to fail. Grown-ups can read more on the parents page.
Keyboard controls
You can play the whole game with a keyboard. These keys work in the Live World and Solo Journey.
- Click + type letters
- Place letters from the cursor square
- Arrow keys
- Move the cursor
- \ or Shift + Space
- Flip the typing direction
- Enter
- Play the word
- Backspace
- Undo the last tile
- Esc
- Take all your tiles back
- Space
- Shuffle the rack
- + and −
- Zoom in and out
- Home
- Fly back to your territory
- ?
- Open the help
Wordtide also has a screen-reader mode, a colour-blind-safe palette, reduced motion, high contrast and read-aloud.
The Daily Seven keyboard
Type your letters, press Enter to submit your word and Backspace to delete.
Questions
How many tiles do I have?
Seven. Each word you play refills your rack from your own endless bag of tiles, and a rare blank tile can show up that stands for any letter.
Where can I put my word?
On the shared board, in one straight line, joined to tiles that are already there. After your first word, it has to touch your own tiles or land within six squares of one of them, so you build near your own territory.
What if I run out of good moves?
Tap the lantern for a suggested word, or swap tiles. Every fifth word you play earns a free swap. After that, swapping your whole rack costs one heart and swapping some tiles costs half a heart.
How do hearts work?
You start a run with three hearts and can hold up to five. A swap can cost hearts. One heart grows back every 15 minutes, and covering a star square wins one back.
Which words are allowed?
Words in ENABLE, a public-domain word list of almost 168,000 words, minus our own blocklist of rude words.
Can I play with only a keyboard?
Yes. Click a square, type letters, press Enter to play the word and Backspace to undo a tile. The full list of keys is on this page.