Letter Loom A free word grid game where every word shifts the rows
Trace words through a grid of fabric letter tiles. Every word you weave slides its rows like a shuttle, so the next word is always somewhere new.
About Letter Loom
Letter Loom is a free online word game you can play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. Thirty letter tiles sit on a wooden loom, five across and six down. Drag your finger or mouse through touching tiles, in any of eight directions, to spell a word of three letters or more, then lift to weave it. A magenta thread follows your path, the tiles you used unravel into points, and then the loom moves.
That loom move is what makes Letter Loom different from other word search games. Every row that lost a tile slides one step like a shuttle: the first, third and fifth rows to the left, the second, fourth and sixth rows to the right, wrapping around the edge, and fresh letters are threaded into the gaps. Letters that were far apart can end up side by side, and the long word you were saving may be pulled apart. Picking which rows to use is half the game.
There are two ways to play. Timed mode gives you two minutes to score as much as you can. Words found within five seconds of each other build a streak worth up to fifty percent extra, and every fourth word threads a gold tile that doubles the word it is used in. When the clock runs out you can watch a short ad, once per round, for thirty more seconds on the same board. Daily weave gives everyone in the world the same board each day with no clock: plan exactly fifteen words, and earn a fifty point bonus if every one of them has five letters or more.
Scoring is simple. Common letters are worth one point, rarer letters more, up to ten for Z and the Qu tile, and longer words earn a big length bonus: four points for four letters, ten for five, eighteen for six, twenty-eight for seven and forty for eight. The results screen shows your best word, your longest word and the best word you missed on the final board.
Tips: look for common endings such as -ED, -ER, -ING and plural S before anything else. Use tiles from rows you want to move, and leave rows you like alone. Save gold tiles for a long word. In Timed mode, a quick stream of short words keeps the streak alive and often beats waiting for one long find.
The word list is built from SCOWL, a well known open English word list, with our own filter for offensive words. Letter Loom saves your best scores, lifetime word count, daily streak and the thread colours you unlock as you play, on this device or to your account when you are signed in.
How to play
Press on a letter and drag through touching tiles (sideways, up, down or diagonally) to spell a word of 3 or more letters, then lift to submit it. Drag back onto the previous tile to undo a letter. You can also tap tiles one by one and tap the last tile again, or press Weave, to submit. On a keyboard, just type the word and press Enter; Backspace removes a letter and Esc clears the word (or pauses when there is none). Each word makes the rows you used slide one step, and fresh letters fill the gaps.
Controls and devices
- Controls: Touch, Mouse, Keyboard
- Works on: phones, tablets and computers
- Screen: portrait orientation
- Price: free, no download or sign-up
FAQ
- Is Letter Loom free, and does it work on my phone?
- Yes. It is free and runs in the browser on Android phones, iPhones, tablets and computers, with nothing to download.
- Why did the letters move after my word?
- That is the loom. Every row you took a tile from slides one step, odd rows left and even rows right, wrapping around the edge, and new letters fill the gaps. Use it to pull good letters together.
- Which words count?
- English words of 3 to 8 letters from the SCOWL word list, in American and British spellings. Names, abbreviations and offensive words do not count, and each word scores once per game.
- What are the gold tiles?
- Gold thread tiles double the score of the whole word they are used in. A new one is threaded in with every fourth word, and there are never more than two on the board.
- When does the daily weave change?
- At midnight UTC. Everyone gets the same starting board on the same day. Finish a daily weave on consecutive days to grow your streak.
- Is my progress saved?
- Yes. Best scores, your lifetime word count, unlocked thread colours, your daily streak and a daily weave in progress are saved on this device, and to your account when you are signed in.
Credits
- Game design, code, art and sound: Playora Games
- Word list: SCOWL (Spell Checker Oriented Word Lists) by Kevin Atkinson, via wordlist-english (SCOWL permissive license (see LICENSE-SCOWL.txt))