Sqword

About Sqword

Sqword is a word game of placement and nerve. The day's deck deals one lettered card at a time, and you choose a square for it on a 5 by 5 board; once a letter is down it cannot move. Rows read left to right and columns top to bottom, and the aim is to have them spell 3, 4 or 5-letter words when the last card lands.

Scoring is by length: each line scores its longest word, so a five-letter word across a row is worth 5, and a perfect board scores 50. Everyone gets the same deck on the same day, so the Sqworboard ranks the day's best scores and shows the average. Your streak counts consecutive days played, a Deck button lets you look at the letters, and you can share your score when you finish. A practice mode lets you play again without changing your place on the board.

Sqword is made by Games for All, LLC, and is free in the browser with no account. It suits players who like the risk-taking of a dice or card placement game as much as finding words, and fans of the 5 by 5 grid puzzles in this list.

How to play Sqword

1. Open Sqword and look at the current card.
2. Tap a square on the 5 by 5 grid to place it; it cannot be moved afterwards.
3. Keep placing each new card, aiming to spell words across rows and down columns.
4. When the 25th letter is down, each row and column scores its longest word: 3, 4 or 5 points.
5. Check your rank on the day's Sqworboard and share your score.

Tips

• Leave a corner or a column loose for awkward letters such as Q, X or Z rather than breaking a good row.
• Three-letter words score, so a short word in a bad line is better than nothing.
• Plan words that share letters across and down; the same vowel can serve both.

Questions