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About Wordarling

Wordarling is a free word game that runs in your browser and on Android. It brings together crosswords, cryptic crosswords, cryptograms, Torto, word searches and two daily challenges — Word of the Day and Contexto — in English and Portuguese, to play alone or with friends.

Who makes it

It is an independent project, built and maintained in Brazil by Vitor Silva, from São Paulo. There is no studio or publisher behind it: the rules, the level generator, the word lists and the clues are all made here, and every message sent through the contact page is read by the person who writes the code. It started from a simple wish: good crosswords that never run out and that a whole family could solve together, each person on their own phone.

How levels are made

No Wordarling level is drawn by hand. Our own generator builds each puzzle on the spot: it picks words from a vocabulary of thousands of entries per language, fits them into the grid so they genuinely cross, and attaches the clue written for each one. Every word carries a familiarity rating, from everyday vocabulary to rarer terms, and that — together with grid size and word count — is what separates an Easy level from an Expert one.

In the solo journey you don't pick levels: each mode follows a track, one level after another, from Easy to Expert. The game watches your pace and, if you are cruising, skips a few levels ahead so things never get repetitive — but it never moves you back to make it easier.

Why no level ever repeats

Every generated level gets a digital signature: a code computed from the exact content of the puzzle (its words, positions and clues). The database only accepts a level if its signature is brand new. If the generator happens to build something identical to an existing level, it is thrown away and another one is made. In practice this keeps a promise that is rare among word games: you will never solve the same puzzle twice — and nobody else gets a disguised copy either.

The answers stay on the server and are never sent to your device. When you finish a level or use Check or Reveal, the server does the checking. That is why the game needs an internet connection, and it is what keeps the leaderboard honest.

Two languages, two vocabularies

Wordarling has its interface and content in English and in Brazilian Portuguese. One is not a translation of the other: each language has its own word list, with clues written for people who speak it. The daily challenges exist in both languages too, with different words in each.

Playing together

Wordarling was designed for groups from day one. In team mode, up to four people solve the same level at the same time, each on their own device, watching the others' letters appear live — and, if they like, talking by voice inside the game. In Versus, two to four players fight over the same grid in 20-second turns, and every correct word takes the colour of whoever solved it. With nobody around, quick match finds you an opponent.

Group play connects the devices directly: letters and audio don't go through our servers, which only help the devices find each other. The privacy policy explains what that means in practice.

All-ages content

The game is rated Everyone on Google Play and is made for the whole family. To keep it that way, the vocabulary goes through a blocklist: words tied to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, sex and graphic violence are left out — and, just as important, clues that mention those topics are removed even when the word itself is innocent. Subjects like religion, history and everyday words such as "war" or "knife" stay, because the rule is about not referencing inappropriate behaviour, not about hiding the language. Spotted something out of place? Let us know.

How the game pays for itself

Playing is free: every mode and every difficulty is open from the start. Wordarling is funded by ads (on the web, only after you answer the cookie notice) and optional purchases — coins and diamonds for helps and cosmetic items, and an ad-free Premium subscription. Paying never buys points or wins: helps are available to everyone, and the leaderboard reflects what you actually solve.