What players see

Every game follows the same simple path, from the cover to the end screen, so readers feel at home in each new one. You choose which parts they see in the game's Features.

1. The cover

The first screen, with the game's name and a Play button. It can also show:

• the game's icon,
• the date and puzzle number, on Daily games,
• a way back to past puzzles, when Archive is on.

Turn Cover off in Features to open straight on the puzzle. Or set data-skip-cover="true" on one embed only, see the Embed reference.

2. First time? A short guide

With Tutorial on, first-time players get a quick interactive guide to the rules. Nobody has to read instructions.

3. Playing

Depending on Features, players have:

• a timer,
• hints when they're stuck,
• solution, to see the answer,
• restart, to clear the board.

Progress is saved on their device. If a reader leaves halfway, the puzzle is waiting where they left it when they come back.

The game pauses on its own when the reader switches to another tab.

4. The end screen

When the puzzle is done, players see:

• their result: solved or not, the time, and the game's own score,
• their streak: how many days in a row they've solved it,
• their rank, when the leaderboard is on, like #37 of 1,204 · Top 4%,
• a Share button,
• your end-screen button and note, such as "Play more puzzles" and "Come back tomorrow".

Sharing

Share opens the phone's own share sheet, or copies the result to share anywhere.

5. Coming back

On a Daily game there's a new puzzle every day, streaks reward coming back, and the Archive lets readers catch up on days they missed.

On every device

• Games fit any width up to 560 px and work with touch and mouse.
• Scrolling over a game scrolls your page.
• Animations are reduced for players who ask their device for less motion.

When a game isn't available

See Troubleshooting.