The first word in a game must cross the center star square. After that any word formed must have at least one letter adjacent to a letter played in a prior turn. All newly placed letters must be adjacent to another letter and on the same vertical or horizontal row. Every tile placed must form valid words vertically and horizontally if it is adjacent to more than one letter already on the board.

The word point badge shows it’s a valid word. If the badge turns green then it's at least 50% of the best word that can be played. For example: if the best possible score on your turn is 60…the badge will turn green for any score over 30. A green badge shows you’ve found a word in the top half of the possible scores.

All valid words are at least one star. You will see two stars when the current word's points are 25% or more of the best word's score. Three stars shows that the word on the board is at least 50% of the best possible score that turn.

Premium stars may be purchased in the Shop under the Boosts tab. The 4th star shows your word is at least 75% of the best score. It will signal Best Word when you find the best points.

HINT shows you a square that can be used to make a good word. The word will cross the hint square in the direction of the arrows. The hint will get better as you find words. You may only use 1 hint per turn.

BOMB draws 7 new letter tiles. Use BOMB when the points are low and the badge is already green or you just don’t like your letters. The bomb gets you a new set of letter tiles that might let you make bigger points. It’s often great to use when you have all consonants or all vowels. You may only use 1 bomb per turn.

Tap PLAY when you’re happy with your word. Play sends your word to your opponent and you wait for them to take their turn.

PASS is used to skip your turn. It’s typically used at the end of the game when you can’t find anywhere to play a letter. Three consecutive passes ends a game. For example: You pass, opponent passes, You pass..then game over.

The game menu has the following options:
Swap and Pass - This rarely used option allows you to pick letters from your rack that you can trade for new letters. After you swap it is your opponent’s turn.
Resign - Ends the game and counts it as a loss.