Word Search Rules

The quick rulebook for Word Search.

New to the game? Read How to Play.

Goal

Find every word in the list by tracing it in the letter grid.

Legal Selections

  • A selection must be one straight line.
  • Start at either end of the word and release at the other end.
  • Words must match the listed spelling exactly.
  • Found words stay highlighted and count toward completion.

Directions

Boards can contain words in several directions. Higher difficulties use more directions.

  • Horizontal and vertical words appear on every difficulty.
  • Medium and harder boards can include diagonals.
  • Hard and expert boards can include backward words.

Selection Example

Legal selections are straight lines
Find these words6 more to find
RIVERMoving water
CLOUDFloats in the sky
BOOKSomething to read
STARA bright object
CODEA hidden horizontal word
FIREA diagonal example
A valid selection follows one continuous row, column, or diagonal from start to finish.

Ready for a guided example? Open the walkthrough.