Word Search

How to play

In short

• Find every word from the list in the grid of letters. Words run in a straight line: across, down or diagonally, also backwards.
• Mark a word by dragging your finger or the mouse from its first letter to its last.
• The letters left over after you find all the words spell a hidden message.
• Three new puzzles every day, easy, medium and hard, the same for everyone.

Goal

Below or next to the grid is a list of words on one theme, such as animals or sport. Each word is in the grid exactly once. Words may cross, and a shared letter then belongs to both. When you have found them all, read the remaining letters row by row from top to bottom, each row from left to right, and you get the hidden message: a proverb or a short sentence.

How to play

1. Put your finger or the mouse on the first letter of a word and drag to the last one. The selection keeps to a straight line.
2. If it is a word from the list, it stays marked in colour and is crossed out in the list.
3. If the letters are not a word from the list, the game says so and the selection disappears. Mistakes do not count.
4. You do not have to drag: tap the first letter and then the last. Tap the same letter again to cancel.

Difficulty

• Easy: an 8 × 8 grid, words go only right, down and diagonally down, and hardly cross. Good for children.
• Medium: a 10 × 10 grid, words also go left and up and may cross.
• Hard: a 12 × 12 grid, all eight directions and many crossings.

Daily puzzle and free play

• Daily Word Search: three puzzles every day, each on a different theme, the same for all players. New ones come at midnight.
• Free play: a new puzzle any time. Choose the theme with the button next to the difficulty: animals, food, nature, European cities, sport or school.
• An unfinished puzzle is saved, so you can carry on after closing the page.

Help

• Hint highlights the first letter of a word you have not found yet. The button then reads Show word, and pressing it again marks the word.
• Time runs from your first tap in the grid, and only while the game is on screen. Turn it on in Settings to see it while you play.

Controls

• Touch and mouse: drag across a word, or tap its first and last letter.
• Keyboard: move around the grid with the arrow keys, Enter or Space marks the first letter and then the last, Esc cancels.

The words and sentences are our own, the proverbs are traditional. Spelling was checked against Hunspell dictionaries. Sources are on the Licences page.