How to play Letter Box Game

The goal

Use all twelve letters on the board at least once, by building a chain of words. A puzzle is solved the moment the last unused letter appears in one of your words. There is no time limit and no penalty for extra words — but fewer words makes a neater solve, and two words is the benchmark to aim for.

The four rules

1. Words need at least three letters. Shorter fragments cannot be submitted. Each letter may be used at most once within a single word, so the path on the board is always easy to follow.
2. Two letters in a row must come from different sides. The board has a Top, Right, Bottom and Left side, each with three letters. You may return to a side later in the same word — just never twice in a row. Sides are labelled by name, shape and pattern (Top ●, Right ◆, Bottom ▲, Left ■), never by colour alone.
3. Chain your words. The first word may start with any letter. Every word after it must start with the last letter of the previous word. If your last word ended in “E”, your next word begins with “E”.
4. Words must be in the curated word list. Letter Box Game checks words against a curated list of common English words. If a word is not recognised, the game says so plainly. That is a limit of the list, not a judgement on the word — and the list is expanded over time.

An example

Suppose the board contains the letters of CAPTURE and ENJOYS. You might play CAPTURE first — checking as you go that no two consecutive letters share a side — and then ENJOYS, which starts with the “E” that CAPTURE ends with. Between them, the two words use all twelve letters, so the puzzle is solved in two words.

Your own solve does not need to match anyone else's. Any chain that follows the rules and covers all twelve letters counts.

Controls

• Tap a tile or type a letter on your keyboard to add it to the current word.
• Enter submits the current word. Backspace removes the last letter. Esc clears the current word.
• Undo removes one letter; Clear removes the whole current word. Neither affects words you have already submitted.
• Hint suggests a word that uses a letter you still need. The first tap gives you its starting letter and length; a second tap reveals it. You have three hints per puzzle.
• New Game starts a practice puzzle with a fresh board. It never overwrites your daily puzzle, which you can return to at any time.

What the messages mean

• “Words need at least 3 letters.” Add at least one more letter before submitting.
• “Two letters in a row cannot come from the same side.” Your last two picks shared a side. Undo one letter and pick from a different side.
• “Your next word must start with …” Chaining rule: begin with the required letter, shown on screen.
• “That word is not in our curated word list yet.” Try a more common word with the same letters, if one exists.
• “You have already used that word.” Each word counts once per puzzle.

Accessibility notes

Every tile is a real button, reachable by keyboard and labelled with its letter and side. Focus is always visible. The game honours your system's reduced-motion setting, and all essential information — which letters remain, how far you have progressed, what the next word must start with — is available as text, not only as colour or position. If anything about the board is hard to use, please tell us — accessibility is part of the design, not an extra.