A round
The screen every game is played on. A clock and a score on top, the word in its slot, the board under the thumb. While the clock runs, only feedback moves.
When it happens
Every game in Outword is a round on this screen. The modes change the board, the clock and what the score pill counts; the screen stays the same.
| Mode | Where | Board | Clock | Score pill | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily board | Compete | 5×5, the same for everyone | 90s | "N pts" | at 0:00 |
| Longest word | Compete | 5×5, the same for everyone | 60s | "longest N" | at 0:00, or the moment you find the longest word possible |
| Daily trivia | Compete | 5×5 per question | 2 min | "N solved" | at 0:00; see Trivia |
| Classic room | Play | 4×4 or 5×5, the host's pick | 30, 60, 90 or 120s | "N pts" | at 0:00, for everyone together |
| Trivia room | Play | 5×5 per question | 1, 2 or 3 min | "N solved" | at 0:00 |
| Solo | Play | Classic or Trivia, the same settings | the same | the same | at 0:00; nothing banks |
A room holds up to 12 players. Classic rooms and solo also set the minimum word length (3, 4, 5 or 6 letters) and Kids mode. How each mode scores is on Scoring.
Composition
From top to bottom. A word round and a trivia run share everything except the parts marked.
| Part | Component | Spec |
|---|---|---|
| Header | brand mark, back | The mark rests on its canonical path instead of looping. No help button during play |
| Eyebrow | label | Trivia only: "Trivia · Sat, Oct 10", "Trivia · Room RUXP", "Trivia · Solo". The word round has none |
| HUD | timer pill, score pill | .game-top: clock on the left, score on the right, 12px below. Pills are 8px 16px, 800 16px, tabular figures |
| Mode line | hint | Longest word only: "find the longest word · 9 on this board" |
| Question card | card | Trivia only, between the HUD and the slot; see Trivia |
| Caption | swipe hint | 700 10px, 2px tracking, uppercase, --fg-soft. "Swipe to spell" at rest; the verdict for 750ms after a word |
| Slot | word pill | radius 999, padding 9px 18px, min-height 40, 800 17px, 2px tracking. No box when empty |
| Board | tile grid | 4×4 or 5×5, gap 8, no trace line |
| Word log | words head, word list | Word round only. "Your words" and "N found"; a 40px hairline until the first word; then every word, newest first, with its points |
| Actions | outline buttons | Trivia only: Hint and Skip, 44px tall. The word round has no buttons on the board screen |
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Light
Flow
- Get ready. The round is set to start a few seconds out: 4.5s in a room, 3.8s alone or on a daily. "Get ready…" shows until 3 seconds are left, then 3, 2, 1, each number popping in over 0.25s. In a room every phone counts down to the same moment on the shared server clock. A phone that learns of the start late, because the app was in the background or the network was slow, skips the countdown and joins with the time that's left, so the round still ends for everyone together (3.25.7).
- Trace. Press a tile and drag through its neighbours. The tiles light and the pill shows the letters in neutral, whatever they spell.
- Lift. The word is judged once. The caption names the verdict and the pill takes its colour for 750ms: "+N pts" and green for a word that scores, with a 12ms haptic tap; "already found"; "go longer" for a word under the minimum; "not a word" in rose. Under 3 letters says nothing.
- Log it. A scored word goes to the top of "Your words", in green until the next one lands, and the score pill adds its points. In a room, the ×2 for a word only you found is added at the tally, once every player's list is in.
- Last 10 seconds. The timer pill turns rose:
--dangerfill,--groundink. - Time. At 0:00 the board goes and "Time!" shows over a status line: "Tallying…" alone or on a daily, "Collecting words…" for the host, "Waiting for the tally…" for a guest. Then Results.
In Longest word, a word only counts if it's longer than your best so far. One that is reads "new best" and the score pill becomes its length; anything else reads "go longer". Finding the longest word on the board ends the round at once, with a double buzz.
States
| State | What the player sees |
|---|---|
| Get ready | "Get ready…", 700 22px, --fg-soft |
| Countdown | 3, 2, 1 in the display face at 110px |
| At rest | "Swipe to spell" in the caption; the slot holds its 40px with no box |
| Tracing | lit tiles; the letters in a neutral pill |
| Tracing a word you have | the pill in --raise with --fg-soft letters; the lit tiles at 0.72 opacity |
| Scored | caption "+N pts" in green; the pill green for 750ms; the word on top of the log in green |
| Already found | caption "already found"; the pill dims |
| Too short | caption "go longer"; the pill in --raise |
| Not a word | caption "not a word" and the pill in rose, 750ms |
| Fumble | under 3 letters: nothing |
| Last 10 seconds | rose timer pill, --ground ink |
| Time up | "Time!" in the display face at 44px, and the status line |
| Joining late (a room) | no countdown: the board opens with the time that's left, and the round ends with everyone else's |
| Still playing when the room's tally is out | the round ends here too: "Time!", then the results (only a phone whose clock couldn't be synced) |
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Light
Dark
Light
Why it's built this way
Known issues and gaps
- The word round didn't get trivia's swipe fixes. 3.23.2 made trivia read the word from the live trace on lift and take the whole tile for the first touch and the lift point. The word round's board (
SwipeGrid) still needs the centre 70% of a tile for the first touch and reads the word from the last render, the same path that dropped a final letter on a quick lift in trivia. - Verdicts aren't announced. A trivia run has a status region that reads "That's it" or "Not it". The word round's caption has none, so a screen reader hears nothing on release. Like every board, a round also needs a pointer to play.
- The countdown and "Time!" render at regular weight on iPhones.
.count-numand.timer.doneset--font-displaywithout a weight, and Arial Black isn't on iOS. Logged as known in 3.9.1 and not fixed. - Lit tiles fade in over 0.5s, not 0.08s, because the light/dark cross-fade overrides the tile's transition. See Tile.
- Survival is still in the code. Play stopped offering it in 3.23, but the round still carries its 4×4 that grows to 5×5 and its "You're out" standings.
Related
- Tile: the board, lit and resting
- Trivia: the round with a question card
- Results: what follows "Time!"
- Scoring: what each word is worth
- Color: the word pill's neutral, earned and refused states
- D-003, no trace line on the game board
- D-021, one round, one clock
Changelog
| Version | Change |
|---|---|
| 3.25.7 | A phone that sees a room's start late joins the round in progress with the time that's left, instead of counting a fresh round from when it saw the start; one still playing when the tally is out stops. Three phones, one 22s late: all end at the same second (it played on 20s after the others before) |
| 3.23 | Trivia mode replaces Survival in Create game and Play solo |
| 3.19.8 | A phone whose shared clock is off counts the 4.5s lead from when it saw the start signal: it starts within about 0.7s of everyone (was 3s early, with no countdown) |
| 3.19.7 | Round timing moves to the Firebase server clock: three phones 17s apart start within about 60ms (was up to 8.8s) |
| 3.12 | The trace line is hidden on the game board; the lit tiles carry the word |
| 3.11.0 | The urgent clock's ink becomes --ground; white on the light rose was near 1.4:1 |