Word Hunt·5 min read·May 24, 2026

How to play Word Hunt: trace, score, and the patterns that pay

Word Hunt is the trace-through-letters word game made famous by GamePigeon’s iMessage version. The rules take 30 seconds; the pattern-hunting that turns an 800-point game into a 2,000-point game is what makes it addictive.

The rules in 30 seconds

A 4×4 grid of letters. You have 80 seconds. Drag your finger (or mouse) through adjacent letters — including diagonals — to spell as many real English words as you can.

Each letter can only be used once per word.
Words must be 3 letters or longer.
Each word counts once. You can’t re-submit it.
The clock starts on your first trace.

At the end of 80 seconds, your score is the sum of all word values. Highest score wins (against the leaderboard or your own past runs).

How scoring works

Longer words are worth disproportionately more than shorter ones. Approximate point values:

3-letter: 100 points
4-letter: 400 points
5-letter: 800 points
6-letter: 1,400 points
7-letter: 1,800 points
8-letter+: 2,500+ points

The math says: finding ONE 7-letter word is worth more than 18 different 3-letter words. So strong scorers chase length over count once they’ve scanned the easy short words.

Four habits that lift your average

Plurals are free. Once you trace a word ending in a consonant adjacent to an S, you get the plural for free. Look for trailing-S chains before each trace.
Common prefixes and suffixes are gold. -ING, -ED, -ER, -EST, RE-, UN-, OVER-. Each one gives you 2-3 free letters appended to a smaller root word. Scan for them at the start, not the end.
Trace 4s before 3s. The point difference between a 3 and a 4 is 300 points (4x the score). The point difference between a 4 and a 5 is 400. So your scanning time is best spent on 4-letter and up.
If you find one big word, retrace it. The same letter chain often supports multiple words by stopping early (e.g. STRING contains STR, STRI, STRIN, STRING). Don’t stop at the first valid word — keep tracing.

Patterns worth scanning for

Q-U adjacency opens QUIT, QUEST, QUOTE, QUOTA, QUIRK. Almost every Q-board has at least one Q word worth 400+.
Double letters (LL, SS, EE, OO) often anchor common words like SPELL, GUESS, SLEEP, MOON, BOOK, etc.
-TION endings (NATION, ACTION, MOTION, RATION, OPTION, LOTION) — if you spot T-I-O-N in a corner you can usually pre-build one.
-ING tails: ING is the most common three-letter ending. If you can reach -ING from any verb, you almost always have a word.

Score milestones

500-1,000: you found the easy words. Mostly 3s and 4s.
1,500-2,500: solid scan + some 5s and 6s.
3,000-5,000: you spotted a 7- or 8-letter word.
5,000+: multiple big words. Top tier.

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