WordMelt

WordMelt — how to play and tips

WordMelt is a free swipe-to-spell word puzzle that runs right in your browser. A grid of glossy candy-glass letter tiles sits in front of you, and your job is to find words, swipe across their letters and watch each tile melt away. Clear every tile and the level is done. There are 20 hand-checked levels spread across four colorful worlds, and the game works equally well with a thumb on a phone or a mouse on a computer.

How to play

Press and hold a tile, then slide your finger across neighboring tiles to build a word. Neighbors include the diagonals, so every tile can touch up to eight others, and each tile can be used only once in a single swipe. A preview bubble above the board shows the letters you are spelling, using the same colors as the tiles, and glows when the word is valid. Lift your finger to submit. A word needs at least three letters and must be in the built-in dictionary of more than 80,000 English words. Valid words melt with a splash of sparks and a drip, and the tiles above them drop down to fill the gaps. Invalid words make the tiles shake and the swipe is cancelled, so there is never a penalty for trying. You can slide back onto the previous tile to take a letter off the end of your word.

Nothing refills the board, so every tile that melts is gone for good. You win when the board is completely empty. If the remaining letters cannot form any word, the game tells you the board is stuck and offers a free shuffle, an undo or a retry.

Scoring and stars

Each level is rated from one to three stars. You earn three stars when you use no hint and no shuffle, two stars when you use at most one hint or shuffle in total, and one star for any other clear. Every level has a set of intended words that is guaranteed to clear the whole board, but any other real word you find counts as a bonus word, so you are free to play your own way. Chain two or more words within three seconds for a combo. Your stars and progress are saved in your browser, and clearing a level unlocks the next one on the map.

Hints, shuffles and undo

The Hint button makes the tiles of a good next word glow. Early levels give you three hints, and later levels give you fewer. Shuffle rearranges the letters that are still on the board without changing where the tiles are, and the game tries several arrangements and keeps one that can still be cleared. Undo takes back your last word once per level. Because helpers affect your star rating, it is worth thinking a move ahead before you reach for one.

Sound, voice, music and haptics

Open the settings panel with the gear button to switch Sound, Voice, Music and Haptics on or off. Sound effects are synthesized live by your browser: each tile you add plays a higher note on a pentatonic scale, melting words go bloop with a little sparkle, and winning a level plays a bright arpeggio. Voice is optional and off by default. When it is on, the game speaks each word you melt and adds a short cheer such as "Nice" or "Amazing", which makes it a fun way to pick up new vocabulary. Music is a soft ambient pad that changes with each world and pauses when you leave the tab. Haptics adds a tiny vibration on phones that support it. Mobile browsers only start sound and speech after your first tap, so touch the screen once and everything wakes up.

Tips and strategy

Start with the awkward letters. Tiles such as J, Q, X, Z and K are the hardest to place later, so melt them early while there are still plenty of neighbors around. Look for short, common endings like ING, ED, ER and S, because a word that uses them leaves the rest of the board easier to read. Do not always take the longest word you see: a three-letter word that frees a stranded corner tile is often better than a five-letter word that leaves a lonely letter behind. Remember that melting makes columns shorter, so tiles that are far apart now can end up side by side after the drop. Finally, count your vowels. A board with too few vowels is the usual reason a level gets stuck, so spend them wisely.

Worlds and levels

The game is split into four worlds of five levels each. Sorbet (levels 1 to 5) has soft peach, pink and mint tiles on a light background and uses a small 4 by 4 grid. Lava (levels 6 to 10) turns the colors up with glowing orange, red and magenta on a deep plum sky and uses a 5 by 5 grid. Frost (levels 11 to 15) is a cool world of ice-blue and white tiles on a navy gradient, with 5 by 5 boards in levels 11 and 12 and 6 by 6 boards from level 13. Neon (levels 16 to 20) finishes the journey with electric violet, lime and cyan on a near-black background, with 6 by 6 boards and a six-letter boss word in the final level. Each world also has its own icon, an ice-cream cone, a flame, a snowflake and a lightning bolt, so you can tell them apart without relying on color. Letters are always dark on light tiles and are checked for strong contrast in every world.

Frequently asked questions

Is WordMelt free?

Yes. WordMelt is completely free to play in your browser, with no download and no sign-up.

Can I play with a keyboard?

Yes. Focus the board, move with the arrow keys, press Space to add the highlighted tile to your word, press Enter to submit and Escape to cancel.

Why did my word not melt?

The word may be shorter than three letters, may not be in the dictionary, or may use a tile twice. Proper names, abbreviations and offensive words are not accepted.

How do I turn sound, voice or music on and off?

Tap the gear button at the top of the map or the board. The switches for Sound, Voice, Music and Haptics are saved on your device. Voice and music are off until you turn them on, and on phones they start only after your first tap.

Does the game save my progress?

Your unlocked levels, stars and settings are saved in your browser on your own device. The settings panel also has a reset button if you want to start over.

Does it work on my phone?

WordMelt is designed for phones first, with large tiles and forgiving diagonal swipes, and it also scales up nicely on tablets and computers.