WordstoneHow to play Wordstone
Wordstone is an iOS word puzzle game where you tap letter stones on a round board to spell English words and reach a points goal as fast as you can. A word that could still grow is an offer: take the points now, or go longer for 1.5 times the payout and risk losing them.
A round, step by step
Pick a board
Play the Daily Challenge or choose a level. The level's number is its goal: level 50 asks for 50 points.
Spell a word
Tap stones one after another to spell an English word of three letters or more. The stones can be anywhere on the board; they do not have to touch. Tap the last stone again to take it back.
Read the offer
When your letters make a word that could still grow from the stones left on the board, the game makes it an offer. A word that cannot grow any longer banks by itself.
Take, or go longer
Take banks the points: the stones lock and the word is safe. Go longer, or simply tap the next stone, risks the word on a longer one, and each raise multiplies what it finally pays by 1.5.
Mind the dead letter
A letter that starts no word adds one second to your clock. If points are at risk on the word, it also breaks and those points are lost.
Reach the goal
Banked stones lock for a moment, then fill with new letters. The round ends when your points reach the goal. Your time is the score, and a fast time earns up to three stars.
Scoring
Long words pay far more than their letters, which is what makes going longer worth it. In the current version a word pays:
| Letters | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 23 | 30 | 38 |
Each Go longer multiplies the finished word by 1.5. Take STONE and you bank 8. Go longer to STONES and it pays 12 × 1.5 = 18. Go longer twice and a word pays 2.25 times its points.
Stars and time
Clearing a level earns its first star. Two and three stars come from your time: the faster you reach the goal, the more stars. Every letter that starts no word adds a second, so a careful round is often the quick one.
Levels and board size
There are fifteen levels: 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100, then 200 up to 1000 in hundreds. Up to level 100 the board has 50 letters. Level 200 has 40, 300 has 30, 400 has 20, and from 500 on there are ten stones to work with. In Settings you can set the board size yourself, Auto or anything from 10 to 100 letters. Levels 50, 60 and 70 are free; the rest come with Wordstone Pro.
Tips
- Look for endings on the board before you go longer. A free S, or the letters of ED, ER or ING, turn many words into longer ones.
- The stones you need must still be free. Locked stones and the ones already in your word cannot be used again.
- Take when the board is short on vowels. A dead letter costs both the points and a second on the clock.
- Short safe words keep the board moving: banked stones refill with fresh letters.
Questions
Which words count in Wordstone?
Any English word of 3 to 15 letters that is in the game's word list, which is built from SCOWL, an open-source English word list. Proper nouns and abbreviations are not in it.
What happens when a word hits a dead letter?
The stones of the word are released and the points at risk on it are lost. Points you already banked are never lost.
Can I take back a letter?
Yes. Tap the last stone of the word again to remove it, as long as it is not part of a word you already chose to go longer on.
Is there a shuffle or a hint?
Yes. Shuffle mixes the letters of the free stones, and each round has three free hints. After those, a hint costs shards.
How many points is a word worth?
In the current version: 3 letters 3 points, 4 letters 5, 5 letters 8, 6 letters 12, 7 letters 17, 8 letters 23, 9 letters 30 and 10 letters 38. Words run from 3 to 15 letters. Every Go longer multiplies the finished word by 1.5.
Get Wordstone
Wordstone is free to play on iPhone and iPad, with ads. It is coming soon to the App Store.