Earn with Words is EarnHire's slot-machine word puzzle. The board is a row of glass letter reels you spin up and down, and every word you spell clears off the board while new letters drop in from above. It is built for the ten minutes between applications: calm, quick to learn, and rewarding the longer you look.
The board
The board is six to ten vertical reels packed side by side. Each reel holds four to eight glowing letter tiles, and the reels are staggered, some starting higher and some lower, so letters line up across the board in shifting ways. A few reels wear a faint curved rim. Those are the high-value reels, and they are where gold slots tend to sit.
Spinning a reel
Swipe a reel up or down to spin it one slot at a time. Keep dragging and it keeps turning, like pulling a slot-machine reel by hand. On a computer, scroll the mouse wheel over a reel. Only the letters move; the reel stays where it is, so spinning one reel changes every word that passes through it.
Two kinds of reel need a second look as you move up the levels. A reel with a lock badge will not spin at all. A reel with a turning-arrow badge is wild: it spins on its own every few seconds, unless you have letters selected on it.
Spelling a word
Tap touching letters in a chain to spell a word, then press Play word (or Enter on a keyboard). Touching means any of the eight directions, so a word can run across the reels, down a single reel, diagonally, backwards, or zig-zag through the board. Tap a letter already in your chain to back up to it, or press Clear to start over. The word you are building shows under the board and glows green once it is a real word.
Words are four to eight letters long and come from a list of everyday English words, with no names, places, brands or abbreviations, so there are no obscure dictionary tricks. When a word lands, its tiles pulse, flare and fade, the letters above them slide down, and new letters fall in from the top of the reel.
A selection remembers positions on the board, not letters. Spin a reel under a half-built chain and the letters in those positions change. Sometimes that is exactly how you finish a word.
Scoring
Words need at least four letters, and five letters or more is where the points are: 5 points for four letters, 20 for five, 40 for six, 70 for seven and 110 for eight or more. The shape of the path adds a direction bonus on top: a diagonal step anywhere in the word adds 25%, a word read backwards (right to left, or bottom to top) adds 25%, and a zig-zag path that changes direction at least twice adds 50%, up to double the word. A six-letter word on a diagonal zig-zag path scores 70 instead of 40. These points count toward the weekly leaderboard, and each distinct word scores once a day. Coins, the in-game score shown in your summary, start from the same points (coins are just for the game and are not money), and on top of that:
- Gold slots double the word for every gold tile it uses. The gold slot is a fixed position on its reel, like a payline, so spin a good letter into it.
- Bonus letters float between the reels for a few seconds in glowing script. Tap one to add it to your word for an extra 25 points.
- Your streak adds up to 50 points a word.
Gold and jackpot bonuses top out at four times the word's coins.
Jackpot lines
Some words are planted on the board with one reel knocked a slot or two out of line. Spin that reel back and, if five to eight letters now read straight across the reels, level or diagonal, either way, the line clears itself as a jackpot worth one and a half times. Most boards have one waiting a spin or two away.
Rounds, streaks and the daily milestone
Each round asks for a set number of words, starting at six. Clear it and a celebration pays a round bonus, then a new board loads a notch harder: more reels, taller and more staggered reels, trickier letters, fewer planted words, and locked and wild reels. A long streak nudges the next board harder still.
Your streak grows with every word in a row. Play a word that is not on the list and the streak resets and the board shakes. If you had a streak of three or more, you can sometimes win it back by watching a short ad.
The daily milestone is ten words, tracked in a bar under the board. The first board you play each day is the Daily Board, the same board for everyone.
Relaxed or timed
Relaxed mode has no clock: play as long as you like and press End when you are done. Timed mode gives you ten minutes. Either way, the summary shows your points, longest word, coins, words, rounds, best streak and jackpots, and you can share it.
Tips
- Scan for the vowels first, then look at the letters that touch them in all eight directions.
- Before you spin, check what the reel will do to the words beside it. A spin that breaks one word can make a longer one.
- Keep a good letter in the gold slot and build words through it.
- Look straight across the board after every spin. A near miss of five letters is usually one slot away.
- Hunt for the long word. From the Daily Challenge up, every board hides a word of seven letters or more, and bending it through the board pays the zig-zag bonus.
- Short words keep a streak alive when you are stuck; the streak bonus adds up fast.
Part of the EarnHire Arcade
Earn with Words is one of the two games in the EarnHire Arcade, next to Resume Runner. Play as a guest to try it, or sign in to keep your progress and streaks and to appear on the weekly leaderboard. Then get back to your search with a clearer head.
The weekly leaderboard
Words has its own weekly skill leaderboard, ranked by points and time played. Playing does not pay you anything. Each week, the top three eligible players (a verified email and an account in good standing) win gift card prizes of $25, $15 and $10, released on the 25th of the following month. Prizes are awarded only in weeks when at least 10 verified players played Words. It is free to enter, and the official rules have the details.