FAQ

How do I play?

Each day, a mystery word is selected. Your goal is to guess it.

Your guesses will either come before or after the mystery word alphabetically — use them to narrow down what the word is. When you guess the word, the game ends.

Everyone plays the same word each day. There'll be a new one tomorrow.

How does scoring work?

When you correctly guess the word, you're shown how many guesses it took and how long it took from your first guess to your correct guess. If you guess a word at 6am, leave the game all day, and finish at 6pm, the timer will show 12 hours.

It's all a bit of fun. Fewer guesses feels more impressive.

How are the words selected?

Words are curated from a list of the 1,000 most common English words in TV and film, with harder words (those in the vocabulary of an 18–20 year old) scattered in. So-called 'Americanisms' like 'color' versus 'colour' have been removed.

Words will never be swears or slurs, and you'll never be asked to guess words that might be sensitive for some people. The wordlist was curated in July 2023 so any correlation with current events is purely coincidental.

As of August 2023 there were 1,752 total words in the wordlist; enough to last until May 2028. More words will be added over time.

How are guessed validated?

Guesses are checked against SOWPODS — an anagram of OSPD (Official Scrabble Players Dictionary) and OSW (Official Scrabble Words), the original two official Scrabble dictionaries — to make sure you're guessing real words. If it's in the list, it's a valid guess, even though it might never be a valid answer.

Do I need an account to play?

No — the daily puzzle is completely free! Subscribing unlocks saved stats, streaks, your game history across devices, and a shareable public stats page.

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I control where ads are displayed but not what's displayed on an ad-by-ad basis.

Can I have (a) free account(s)?

Email support@alphaguess.com and tell me why. I might grant free accounts if you plan to use alphaguess with your class, patients, or people you provide care to, for example.

How do I log in?

alphaguess uses magic links — no password needed. Enter your email, check your inbox for a login link, click it, and you're in. The link expires after 15 minutes.

How do I cancel?

Log in, click your email in the footer, and choose "Manage Billing" to access the Stripe portal. You can cancel anytime and keep access until the end of your billing period. You can also email support@alphaguess.com and I'll handle it.

I was charged but can't access my account.

This sometimes happens if you signed up with a different email than the one you're logging in with. Email support@alphaguess.com with the address used at checkout and I'll sort it out.

How do I get in touch?

Email support@alphaguess.com.