PIVOT

PIVOT is a free daily tile puzzle by Andrew Leahey, played in the browser and in an iPhone and iPad app released in February 2026. Unlike most word games it does not hide the word: the target is shown from the start, and the challenge is getting the letters there.

The board is three rows of six letter tiles, with four gold tiles in the middle of the centre row. Between the tiles sit pivot dots, and tapping one rotates the 2x2 block of letters around it a quarter turn clockwise. Every rotation moves four letters at once, so putting one letter in place can knock another out, and the puzzle becomes a matter of planning a short sequence of turns that leaves the whole word in the gold row.

Each day's edition is numbered, and each rotation counts as a move. The side panel shows the fewest moves anyone has managed so far, your streak and a countdown to the next puzzle, and you can add a name to post a verified score to the daily leaderboard, compare within private Friend Circles, or watch replays of the best solutions. A hint, an archive of past editions, practice boards, custom puzzles to share and live best-of races sit beside the daily, along with keyboard controls, a high-contrast mode and a dyslexia-friendly font. The game has no ads.

It suits players who enjoy sliding-block and Rubik-style puzzles as much as words; most solves take about a minute, and shaving off the last move is where the fun lies.