Tessera
Swap tiles on a 4 by 4 grid until every row and column is a word.
Every day: One numbered 4 by 4 letter grid a day, the same for every player: swap tiles until every row and every column spells a word, with a larger hard grid alongside. New puzzle: Midnight UTC (the game takes the day from the UTC date).
Tessera is a daily word grid. Sixteen letter tiles start scrambled on a 4 by 4 board, and you swap pairs of them until each row spells a word and so does each column. Every player gets the same numbered grid each day, and there is a 5 by 5 hard mode too.
About Tessera
Tessera is a word square puzzle you solve by swapping. The day's sixteen letters are dealt onto a 4 by 4 grid in the wrong places. Pick two tiles to swap them, and keep going until all four rows read as words across and all four columns read as words down.
Because every row has to work with every column, a word that looks right across can block the columns, so the puzzle is as much about the crossing letters as the words themselves. Each grid is numbered and dated, the same for everyone, and the game keeps a streak. There is a set number of swaps to work with, and a hard mode with a 5 by 5 grid for players who want more.
The daily grid changes at midnight UTC, and earlier dates can be replayed. It suits players who like Waffle or Crosswordle and want a small square to untangle each day.
How to play Tessera
- Open Tessera to get the day's numbered 4 by 4 grid of scrambled letters.
- Tap one tile and then another to swap them.
- Arrange the letters so every row spells a word reading across.
- Make sure every column spells a word reading down at the same time.
- Finish the square to solve the day, then try the 5 by 5 hard grid if you want more.
Tips
- Start with corner letters: each one has to begin or end both a row and a column.
- Look for uncommon letters such as X or Q first; they have the fewest places they can fit.
- Fix one full row and one full column that cross, then build the rest around them.
- Count vowels: each four letter word usually needs at least one, so spread them across rows and columns.
Questions
When does a new Tessera puzzle come out?
At midnight UTC. The grid is numbered and dated, and everyone gets the same one.
Is there a harder version?
Yes. Hard mode uses a 5 by 5 grid.
Do the columns have to be words too?
Yes. The grid is solved only when every row and every column spells a word.
Games like Tessera
Waffle
Swap letters until every word in the grid is right
Jumble (Greatest Games)
Swap tiles until words across and down read right
Align (Boston Globe)
Swap letters in a scrambled grid of ten words
Crosswordle
Swap letters around a small crossword
Letterbox (Lost Art Games)
Make every row and column of a small grid a word
18 Words
Unscramble 18 words against the clock, once a day.
Amagrama
Tap jumbled letters in the right order to rebuild each day's words.
Apss Rowd
Crack the day's four-letter password, an anagram of a real word, from alphabet clues.