Word Search

What it is

Word Search is a classic puzzle on a grid of letters. A list of words is hidden in the grid, running in straight lines, and your job is to find and mark each of them. Each puzzle has a theme, such as Ocean, Space, Food or Music, so the words belong together and are easy to guess at a glance.

The puzzle is written in your own language. The game follows the language of the page, and the word lists are written natively for each of the 20 languages we support, not translated from English. That also means the grid respects the way each script works. In Hindi, Bengali and Thai a cell holds a whole letter cluster rather than a loose piece of one. Japanese puzzles use kana, Chinese and Korean words are two to four characters long, and in Arabic and Urdu the grid is mirrored so words read from right to left.

The letters that fill the empty cells are drawn from the letter frequencies of the language itself, so the grid looks like real text and not a random jumble. Each grid is checked so that a word does not appear twice by accident.

How to play

Press on the first letter of a word and drag across to the last one. A rounded capsule follows your finger and snaps to the nearest straight line, so a little drift does not matter. Let go and, if the letters spell a word on the list, the capsule stays in a soft colour and the word is struck through in the list with a tick. You can drag in either direction, forwards or backwards, and it counts the same.

If you prefer tapping, tap the first letter and then tap the last one. With a keyboard, move around the grid with the arrow keys and press Enter or Space on the first and then the last letter. Escape cancels a selection that you have started.

Three levels set the pace:

• Easy uses grids from 8×8 to 10×10 with six to eight words that run to the right or downwards.
• Medium uses grids from 10×10 to 12×12 with nine to eleven words, and adds diagonals.
• Hard uses grids from 12×12 to 14×14 with twelve to fourteen words that can run in all eight directions, including backwards and upwards.

A timer runs while you play and pauses whenever a menu is open, the page is hidden or the host asks the game to pause. Your best time for each level is kept on your device.

The Daily puzzle is a Medium puzzle that changes each day and is the same for all players of the same language on that day. Finish it on consecutive days to build a streak.

A hint makes the first letter of a word you have not found flash. Each puzzle comes with three free hints. When they are used, no more are given for that puzzle, and you can still finish it.

Tips

• Start with the longest words. A long run of matching letters is easier to spot than a short one, and each word you find leaves fewer to look for.
• Read the word list before you look at the grid. Knowing the theme helps your eye pick out the words.
• On Medium and Hard, check for diagonals and for words written backwards. Many people look only left to right.
• Keep your free hints for the end. When one or two words remain, a flash on the first letter saves a long hunt.

Questions people ask

Can words be written backwards? On Hard, yes. Words can run in all eight directions, so some are written backwards or upwards. On Easy they only run to the right or downwards, and Medium adds diagonals. Whichever way a word runs, you can select it from either end.

What language are the puzzles in? The puzzle follows the language of the page and the words are written for that language. If your language is not available the game falls back to English.

What does the Daily puzzle do? It is a new Medium puzzle each day, the same for all players of the same language. Completing it on consecutive days builds a streak, and the game also records your longest streak. You can play one daily puzzle per day.

Are hints free? Each puzzle has three free hints. After those, no more hints are given for that puzzle. A puzzle can be finished without any hint.

Is my progress saved? Yes. The game saves after each word you find, along with your timer, best times, statistics and streak, on your own device.

Why did my timer stop? The timer only runs while you are playing. It stops when a menu or dialog is open, when you switch to another tab and when the page is paused.

Do I need to sign in? No. There is no account to create and no app to install.