Game FAQ
Everything you need to know about playing multiplayer word games on Puzz.com — rules, scoring, pause & resume, AI opponents, matchmaking, and membership tiers. Last updated 2026‑04‑22.
Getting started
How do I start a game?
Go to the
lobby. You can play as a guest (no account) or sign up free to track your ELO, history, and paused games. Pick a variant (Classic is the easiest entry point), choose
vs Player or
vs Bullwinkle (AI), and click
Play Now.
Do I need an account?
No. Guests can join and play. An account unlocks game history, ELO tracking, friend invites, and (for Plus/Premium) the Pause feature, ranked matchmaking, Speed Round, and the paid variants.
How does the interface work?
Drag tiles from your rack to the board. Press Submit Word once your placement is ready; Recall moves tiles back to your rack; Pass ends your turn without playing; Exchange swaps up to 7 of your tiles for new ones at the cost of your turn; Resign concedes the game. Use + / − in the toolbar to zoom the board (0.5×–3×).
Variants & rules
Puzz.com supports six variants. All follow the standard Scrabble-family crossword placement rule: the first word covers the center star, and every subsequent play must connect to at least one existing tile (either extending a word or branching off one).
| Variant | Tiles | Rack | Bingo bonus | Tier |
|---|
| Classic | 100 (2 blanks) | 7 | +50 | Free |
| Puzz Original | 107 (4 blanks, Ring board) | 7 | +50 | Free |
| Friends (WWF) | 104 (2 blanks) | 7 | +35 | Plus |
| Feud (Wordfeud) | 104 (2 blanks) | 7 | +40 | Plus |
| Lexy (Lexulous) | 104 (2 blanks) | 8 | +40/+50 | Plus |
| Speed Round | 107 (Puzz rules) | 7 | +50 | Plus |
How is scoring done?
Each tile has a base letter value. Premium squares on the board multiply a letter (DL/TL) or the whole word (DW/TW) when a tile sits on them for the first time. The center ★ square acts as a DW for the first word only. Playing all 7 (or 8 in Lexy) tiles in one move earns a bingo bonus. At game end, unused tiles on a player's rack subtract from their final score.
What dictionaries are supported?
The default English dictionary is the standard competitive wordlist used for the corresponding variant (TWL for Classic/Puzz, WWF for Friends, Wordfeud wordlist for Feud, SOWPODS-based for Lexy). Challenges submit to the server for validation — no manual challenge flow.
AI opponents
Who am I playing against in vs-AI?
Our AI is LLM-backed via Cloudflare Workers AI (Llama 3.2). It reads the board and rack and picks strategic plays in roughly a second per turn. Three difficulty levels:
- Bullwinkle goof — easy, picks reasonable but not optimal plays
- Bullwinkle feelin' lucky — medium, balanced strategic play
- Mr. Know-It-All — hard, prioritizes bingo setups and blocks premium squares
Does my ELO change when I play the AI?
No. AI matches don't affect ELO. They're purely for practice, fun, and Speed Round drills.
Is the exhibition match always looping?
Yes. Rocky and Bullwinkle play each other continuously in the Exhibition room — you can spectate from the lobby's Rooms area. It's a live showcase of the AI system.
Matchmaking & ranked
How does Quick Play pair me with an opponent?
Quick Play enters a matchmaking queue filtered by game mode and variant. You'll be paired with another player within your skill band; after 30 seconds we widen the range; after 60 seconds we offer to drop you into a vs-AI game instead if no one's available.
How does ranked play work?
Plus+ only. Ranked games are tracked against your ELO (starts at 1200 for new accounts). Win/loss swing depends on your opponent's rating. Your rating history appears on your profile. Resigned games still count; paused-then-forfeited games count as losses.
Pause & Resume Plus Premium
How do I pause a game?
While in an active game, click the ⏸ Pause (24h) button in the toolbar. Confirm the dialog — the game's full state (board, racks, scores, tile bag) is saved to our database. You'll get a confirmation toast and return to the lobby.
How long can a game stay paused?
24 hours maximum. After that window, the pause expires and the game is forfeited automatically. The countdown runs in real time from the moment you click Pause — not from when you last moved.
Will I get reminders?
Yes. By default, we email you:
- At 16 hours into the pause — "your game expires in about 8 hours"
- At 20 hours into the pause — "last chance, expires in 4 hours"
- At 24 hours — "your game has been forfeited" (notification only)
You can opt out of reminders per-game from the paused-games panel in the lobby.
How do I resume?
Three ways:
- Open the lobby — if you're logged in and have active pauses, a Your Paused Games panel shows each one with a Resume button.
- Click the Resume Game link inside any reminder email.
- Navigate directly to
puzz.com/play/game.html?resume=<id>.
When you resume, the full saved state is restored: same board, same tile bag, your rack, your score, opponent score, and whose turn it is. The turn is handed back to you.
Can I pause more than one game at a time?
Yes — there's no per-user cap. We do impose a global limit of 500 active pauses across all users; if we ever approach that cap, the oldest paused games are cleared first (FIFO) with an apology email to affected users. In practice, this has never happened.
What if my subscription lapses while a game is paused?
You can still resume. The pause was an action you took while paid, so we honor it. See our
subscription-mid-game policy for the full behavior across tier changes.
Can I pause an exhibition match or spectator session?
No. Pause only works for active player sessions in multiplayer rooms. Exhibition matches loop continuously — you just close the tab. Spectators can leave anytime without affecting the game.
Friends & invites
How do I invite a friend to a game?
While in a game (or after creating a private room), open the Invite menu and copy the invite link — it looks like https://puzz.com/join/a1b2c3d4. Share it via any channel. When your friend opens the link, they see a landing page with the option to accept and join.
How long are invite links valid?
7 days from creation. After that the link shows an "expired" message and the sender needs to generate a new one.
Can anyone with the link join?
Yes — the invite code is public by design (like a Zoom link). If you want a tighter control, create a private room and share the invite only with the person you want to play. For ranked matchmaking, the system automatically pairs you with players of similar rating.
Disconnections, idle, and auto-forfeit
What happens if I lose my connection mid-game?
You have
5 minutes to reconnect. If you make it back within that window, you rejoin right where you left off. After 5 minutes:
- In Speed Round — you auto-forfeit immediately.
- In any human-vs-human mode — you auto-forfeit.
- In vs-AI — the game stays open; the AI waits indefinitely for you to return.
For non-speed modes, if you'd rather not lose on a disconnect, use
Pause before closing your tab.
What if it's my turn and I forget to move?
In Speed Round, your turn auto-passes after 60 seconds. In other modes, you have 48 hours per turn. If a game sits idle for 7 days, it's force-ended as stale. Logged-in users get a daily reminder email if they have a pending turn that's been idle more than 24 hours.
Membership tiers
| Feature | Free / Guest | Plus | Premium |
|---|
| Classic + Puzz Original variants | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| vs-AI (all difficulties) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Game history + ELO | ✓ (login) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Friends/Feud/Lexy variants | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Speed Round | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ranked matchmaking | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pause & Resume (24h) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ad-free lobby & game | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Early access to new variants | — | — | ✓ |
Privacy & support
Where can I see my recent games?
Your profile shows the last 20 completed games with outcomes, scores, and variant. ELO history is graphed across all ranked matches.
How do I report a bug or cheating?
Email
[email protected] with the game ID (shown in the lobby under your paused list, or in the URL when playing) and a short description. Our moderation team reviews reports within 48 hours.
Is chat moderated?
Yes. In-game chat is rate-limited and every message goes through a family-friendly content filter. You can also mute any user per-session from the chat panel. Persistent offenders are suspended from chat (not from gameplay).
Is my game data private?
Board state, moves, and scores are stored in our database for history, leaderboards, and the pause feature. We don't share it with third parties. Guests play entirely in-memory — nothing is retained after you close the tab. See our
Privacy Policy for details.