Word Duel

What is Word Duel?

Word Duel is the game that grows out of Letter Sudoku. Every letter puzzle you finish hands you that letter as a tile; those tiles are yours to keep, and here is where you spend them — building real words, scoring points, and measuring yourself against everyone else playing this month.

How you earn letters

There is only one way to collect a letter, and it is by solving. Open Letter Sudoku, pick a letter from A to Z, and complete the board. The moment the grid is solved, that letter drops into your collection — you will see a little note in the winning screen and the tile will be waiting for you here. Each letter can be earned once per day, so a patient solver can gather a good handful across the alphabet in a single sitting, and a steady daily habit quietly builds a deep bank of tiles to play with. Rare, awkward letters are worth chasing: the trickier a letter is to spend, the more it tends to score.

How you play a word

Type a word into the box and press Play word. Word Duel checks that you actually hold every letter it needs, spends those tiles from your collection, and adds the word's score to your total for the month. Longer words and words built from high-value letters are worth far more than short, common ones, so there is a real decision in every play: cash in a safe little word now, or hold your letters and wait until you can land something big. Spent tiles are gone until you earn them again, which keeps the puzzle side of the site — the daily solving — meaningfully connected to the word game.

Scoring

Each letter carries a point value in the familiar spirit of tile word games: everyday letters like E, A and R are worth a little, while scarce ones like J, Q, X and Z are worth a lot. A word's score is the sum of its letters, lifted by a bonus that rewards length, so stretching for one more letter is almost always worth it. The exact values are shown as you type, and the running total for your month sits at the top of the board. There is nothing to buy and nothing to unlock — every point comes from letters you earned by solving.

The monthly leaderboard

Every player who spells a word this month appears on the leaderboard, ranked by total score, under a nickname of their choosing. At the start of each calendar month the board is wiped clean and everyone begins again from zero, so a strong run early in the month is always within reach and no one is ever hopelessly behind. You do not need an account or a password: the site remembers you on this device and lets you rename yourself whenever you like. The Recent words tab shows the latest words the community has played, so you can see what is landing and pick up ideas for spending your own letters.

Tips for a good month

Collect widely before you spend. A collection with a balance of vowels and common consonants gives you the freedom to reach for longer words instead of being forced into two- and three-letter fillers. Save your rare tiles for words that really use them, keep an eye on the length bonus, and come back each day — because letters refresh daily, consistency beats cramming. When you need more tiles, the whole alphabet is one solve away in Letter Sudoku, and if you would rather warm up on a normal board first, the shared Daily Sudoku and the classic game at Sudoku AZ are always open.