How to Play Word Relay

Start or join a relay

• Choose Word Relay to create a new relay, or open a relay link someone sent you. No account or live multiplayer room is required.
• A new relay is built from today’s Daily Rush board: one frozen 4×4 board, the daily dictionary, a 3-letter minimum, and a 60-second turn clock.
• An existing link reopens that relay’s saved board and chain state. Relay links are temporary and expire 24 hours after the challenge is created.

Advance the shared chain

Your first accepted word may start with any letter. After that, the next word must begin with the final letter of the previous accepted word. Trace adjacent tiles, including diagonals, without reusing a tile, and use a dictionary word that meets the minimum.

The relay record shares the retained found-word history, required next letter, and turn count. A word already in that history is rejected for everyone; the history keeps the 500 most recently accepted words. Each accepted word advances the record; it does not lock the tiles or create a live room score.

Every accepted word is scored by length squared in the player’s current turn. Results are local to that browser session: the relay passes the chain state, not a combined leaderboard or a final total.

End a turn and pass it on

A browser turn ends when its 60-second timer reaches zero, or when the player chooses End Round. The relay itself does not automatically finish when a turn ends. Share the relay link from the board so the next player can continue the saved state.

There is no automatic winner or final round result. The challenge continues while its link is alive; expiry ends access to that relay. If two players submit at the same time, the revision check protects the shared state and the stale submission must reload the challenge.

Asynchronous, not live multiplayer

Word Relay is a shareable solo-turn challenge. Players take turns by passing a link, but they are not in the same room, do not share a clock, and do not see a live multiplayer scoreboard.