WordWend™ — where word-finds,
crosswords, and trivia games unite!
What you need to know
Wend your way across the board, by connecting adjacent letters on the game grid to find the answer. The answers take many forms (a single word, several words, a phrase, a sentence) and can be formed vertically or horizontally.
Basic Gameplay
The gameboard of each Wend is a square pattern of tiles. The tiles' meaning can be found in the Game Tile Legend below. Above the gameboard, there will text naming the Journey and the puzzle's hint.
| Tile Color and Font | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Papyrus regular | Unplayed tile | u |
| Green bold | Correct choice. The first letter of the answer will be green at start | g |
| Yellow bold italics | The only potential next letter choices | v |
| Red | Wrong choice and not used in the path | b |
| Red outline and underscore | Indicates tile will be used, but was selected out of order | w |
The green tile is the first letter of the answer. Start play by selecting one of the yellow tiles. The timer starts once any tile is selected. Keep selecting tiles until you discover the answer.
If the wrong tile is chosen, it will turn red. Pick another yellow tile to keep going. A tile with a red outline means that the tile is part of the answer, but was selected in the wrong order. Pick a different yellow tile and keep playing until the answer is complete.
| Action | Touch Device | Mouse/Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Select next tile | Tap tile | Click tile |
| Navigate to next tile | Tap arrow key up, down, right, or left | Tap arrow key on keyboard |
Scoring Walkthrough
WordWend tracks both your speed and accuracy. Your score is the number of correct tiles you selected minus any incorrect tiles that were chosen. Time starts when any tile is selected and ends when you complete the puzzle.
EXAMPLE — Step-by-Step
Journeys
Journeys group together the main categories of Wends in WordWend. Each journey has a unique theme or topic, and can vary in length and difficulty as it goes on. To select a journey, navigate to the Journeys page and choose one of the categories,which are labeled with their theme.
You might notice that different icons appear beneath each of the Journey categories. If there is a magic wand beneath the category name, the category has not yet been started. The stars indicate the highest difficulty of puzzle that you've completed within the Journey, from one to four stars. If you've completed the whole Journey, you get a trophy!
Once you have selected a Journey, you will come to a page displaying all of the Journey's levels, in order from lowest difficulty to highest. You must complete the easier puzzles before you can play more difficult ones. The number of stars on each level indicates the relative difficulty of the puzzle within the Journey. Each level consists of multiple Wends of the same difficulty.
The levels are numbered and begin at the top of the Journey. If a level is outlined in green, it has already been completed; if it is outlined in orange, it is the next level you can play in the Journey. Just tap or click on the orange level to play the puzzles. Complete all of the Wends in a level, and you can move on to the next one. Once all levels are finished, the Journey is completed!
The Daily Wend
Every day, a new leg of the ongoing Daily Wend is revealed, and this is a journey that has no end. The categories of puzzles will change from day to day, but there will always be a new Daily Wend. Save a link to the Daily Wend and compare your wends with the wends of friends!