Wordoku

Wordoku (2016) is a brain game where you race to create words that also solve a puzzle. You play by moving Letter tiles around in a 4-by-4 grid, aiming to balance creating words with organising the four symbols. It is like playing sudoku at the same time as solving a crossword.

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You race the clock to rearrange Letter tiles to create words and order symbols. Lay out the grid, start the timer then turn over the tiles and organise them in the best way possible. You are aiming to make eight four-letter words, which have to overlap using the standard rules of a crossword.

As you play, you begin to form words of two to four letters in length. But the catch is that you must also ensure that you end up with one of each of the four symbols organised into each column and row. You are soon rushing to rearrange the tiles to solve both these puzzles at the same time. Once the five minutes is up, you score one point for each letter used in a word, and score double for each row or column where one of each of the four symbols is present.

What starts as a fun word-creating game, becomes a fiendish race against the clock where you need to make both word and symbol associations simultaneously. It's different because you aren't awarded points for the complexity or rarity of your words, but for the way in which you organise them. The final twist is getting extra points if you improve your score from the previous round.

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Our examiner, Rob Prior, first checked Wordoku 22 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 14 months ago.