WordGrid: the crossword is on the TV, the rack stays on your phone
WordGrid is a crossword you build with a shared bag of tiles. Two, three, or four people draw seven letters each and take turns laying a word on a 15×15 board. The television shows the grid, the scores, and the words that have already been accepted. Your rack never leaves your phone. That split is the whole reason to play it on a TV instead of around a table where neighbors can lean.
2–4 players
How to play
1WordGrid
Modern tile-word game for 2–4 players — TV board with phone racks, or Player with own screen on phone, tablet, or computer.
The board and the bag
The grid is the familiar premium layout. The center star is a double-word square, and the first word must cover it. Triple-word squares sit in the corners and at the mid-edges. Double-word squares run along the diagonals. Double-letter and triple-letter squares are scattered in the usual bands. A premium square scores only when a tile is newly placed on it. A later word that merely crosses that square does not get the multiplier again.
The host picks the language and the difficulty in the lobby, on the TV or on the host’s phone. English uses the usual 100-tile bag: nine A, twelve E, one Q, one Z, two blanks, and the rest of that set. Swedish uses the Swedish Scrabble Federation bag, also 100 tiles, with Å, Ä, and Ö and no Q or W tiles. A blank scores zero and can stand for any letter in that language’s alphabet, including Q and W in Swedish. Letter points follow the same two tables. Playing all seven tiles in one turn adds a 50-point bingo on top of the word score.
What a legal turn is
Tiles in a turn must sit in one straight line, horizontal or vertical, with no gaps. After the opening word, at least one new tile must touch a tile already locked on the board. Crosswords formed by that contact are scored too, and every one of them has to be at least two letters. You can shuffle the rack, recall tiles you have dropped on the board, pass, or swap. A swap is allowed only while the bag still has tiles. You select the ones to return, draw replacements, and the turn ends. Six passes in a row, counted across all players, end the game.
The server checks every word against a real list for the language and difficulty the host chose. English Easy is a common-word band (63,128 words). Normal is the ENABLE list plus those common words (169,918). Hard adds a wider SCOWL band (247,637). Swedish Easy is everyday words and their inflections (209,665). Normal adds longer real words up to 10 letters (321,874). Hard keeps words up to 15 letters (670,055). Swedish accepts å, ä, and ö. A made-up compound is rejected. Sources and licenses are on the credits page.
How the score is closed
The game ends when someone plays out their rack and the bag is empty, or when six consecutive passes happen, or when resignations leave the table decided. If a player empties the rack with an empty bag, everyone else subtracts the points still on their rack and that player adds those points. If the game ends another way, each remaining player simply loses the points on their own rack. The highest score wins. If the top two scores match, the server records a draw rather than picking a winner.
Resign is on the phone. A resigned player’s rack stops mattering. With two people, a resignation ends it. With more, the others continue.
How to sit, and how to open
Two to four friends in different places can each open the grid and their own rack on one device. The rack is still hidden from the others. Read the room code out loud or paste it. A remote WordGrid game fails when someone photographs the TV and the code is unreadable, not when the scoring is mysterious.
- Phones face down or toward the owner. The TV is public. A tilted screen is a free look at seven tiles.
- Open through the center star on purpose. A short word that also aims at a triple-word is worth more than a clever five that sits in the middle of nowhere.
- Save a blank for a bingo or for a letter that unlocks a triple. A blank is worth zero, so do not spend it on a one-point vowel unless it wins the game.
- Track the passes. Five have already happened when someone sighs and passes “just to think.” The sixth ends the night.
- Easy is the list to pick when the table wants familiar words. Hard is the list that accepts the obscure ones. The server is the referee.
FAQ
Can the others see my tiles?
- No. The rack stays on your phone, or on your own device if you are playing with the board and controls together. The shared screen shows placed words, scores, and how many tiles are left in the bag.
Does it use a dictionary?
- Yes. The host chooses English or Swedish, and Easy, Normal, or Hard, before the game starts. Only words on that server list are accepted, including words made with a blank. Invented words are rejected.
What is the bingo bonus?
- Playing all seven tiles from your rack in one turn adds 50 points after the word and any crosswords are scored.
When does the game end?
- When a player uses their last tile and the bag is empty, when six passes in a row have been played, or when resignations finish it. Leftover rack points are subtracted. They are awarded to the player who went out only in the empty-bag case.
How many players?
- Two, three, or four. The first word must cover the center star. After that, every turn has to connect to tiles already on the board.