Look at the 4×4 grid of letters. Any chain of adjacent (including diagonal) letters that spells a real English word is a valid play.
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Tap or drag to select
Tap each letter in order, or drag your finger across them. The path is highlighted so you can see what you've built. Right-click or long-press a letter to undo back to it.
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Submit the word
Tap the last letter again, or hit Submit. Tap a non-adjacent cell to clear and start over.
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Score by length
Three-letter words are worth 100, four are 400, five are 800, six are 1400. Longer words score exponentially better, chase those 7+ letter finds.
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Beat the clock
You have 80 seconds. The board doesn't change, same grid for everyone playing today's puzzle. Find as many words as you can.
Tips & strategy
•Plurals are free points. If LION is on the board and an S is adjacent to the N, you get LIONS for almost no extra effort.
•Common suffixes (-ED, -ING, -ER, -S) double your word count if their letters happen to chain. Always check.
•Diagonals count. New players miss roughly half the board by only thinking up/down/left/right.
•Look for high-value chains first: a Q next to a U is gold (QUIET, QUEST, QUITS). Same for X followed by reachable vowels.
•Don't fixate on the long-word hunt. Twenty 3-letter words score 2,000; one 6-letter word scores 1,400. Quantity wins.
•If you submit an invalid word, you don't lose points, just time. Try borderline guesses if the clock is generous.
Frequently asked questions
Is Melio Word Hunt free?
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Yes. Free, no ads, no account. Sign in for the daily leaderboard.
Is it the same as iMessage GamePigeon Word Hunt?
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Same format, 4×4 grid, drag adjacent letters, 80 seconds. Dictionary and scoring are our own implementation, so absolute scores may differ.
What counts as an adjacent letter?
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Any of the 8 surrounding cells: up, down, left, right, and the four diagonals. You can't skip cells or reuse one in the same word.
How are words scored?
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By length. 3 letters = 100 pts, 4 = 400, 5 = 800, 6 = 1400, 7 = 1800, 8+ = 2200+. Longer words are dramatically more valuable.
Does the puzzle change daily?
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Yes. The grid is the same for everyone on a given day so you can compare scores fairly with friends.
Can I play on desktop?
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Yes, tap (click) each letter in order, or hold and drag across them. Submit and Clear buttons sit above the grid for users who want explicit controls.