Letter Duel: Free Online Word Board Game

Letter Duel is our own word board game for one player against the computer. You each hold seven letter tiles. On your turn, lay some of them in a row or a column to make a word that joins onto the words already on the board, then press Play. The first word must cover one of the four violet squares in the middle. Every word your tiles make counts, the long one and any short ones they form across it, and the game shows them with their scores as you lay the tiles, so you know a move is good before you play it.

Each letter has its own value, from 1 for common letters like E and S up to 9 for J and Q. Colored squares raise the score the turn a tile lands on them: teal and blue multiply a letter by two or three, pink and orange multiply the whole word. Use all seven tiles in one turn for 30 more points. When your tiles don't fit anywhere, swap some for new ones from the bag or pass. The game ends when someone plays their last tile with the bag empty, and tiles left on a rack count against that player.

Four computer opponents wait on the title screen. Pip (Easy) plays everyday words and takes it easy, Maple (Medium) knows lots of words, Rook (Hard) goes for the top score every turn, and Sage (Expert) also keeps good tiles for later and swaps a poor rack. Your wins and best scores are kept for each one. The bag button shows every tile you haven't seen yet, and Check a word in the menu looks up any word for free. On a computer you can also click a square and type.

A hint costs gems and lays the best-scoring move for your tiles on the board; swaps, passes, shuffles and word checks are always free. The game saves after every turn, so you can come back to it later. Accepted words come from the public-domain ENABLE list, with offensive words left out. Letter Duel is free to play in your browser with no download or sign-up, and its board, art, sound effects and music are made for this game.