Game mode
The Daily Challenge
One grid, one date, the same problem for everyone. The Daily Challenge is the shortest mode in the game — a few minutes — and the only one that compares: since everyone solves exactly the same grid, times and move counts actually mean something.
One grid per day, per language
Every date carries a unique, predetermined grid. Two players opening the same day's challenge in the same language see the same walls, the same crates and the same word.
Language matters because the word belongs to the language you have chosen. Switching language in the settings therefore switches the daily challenge: a different word, and consequently a different grid. Each language has its own streak and its own leaderboard.
The streak
Completing the day's challenge increments your streak. It measures regularity, not performance: a challenge solved in three minutes counts exactly as much as one solved in thirty seconds.
One detail matters here: a streak only counts on a verified date. Moving your device clock forward will not let you get ahead on future challenges or inflate a streak. When the date cannot be verified, the challenge remains playable but does not count toward the streak.
Recovering after a missed day
A broken streak is not immediately lost. If your last completed challenge was at least two days ago and at most seven, a recovery is offered when you open the game. Accepting it restores the streak as though yesterday's challenge had been completed: the counter resumes where it stopped.
Beyond seven days the recovery is no longer offered and the streak restarts from zero. The offer can also be declined, in which case it will not reappear the same day.
Recovery is backed by an optional ad. It is never forced, and declining has no consequence for your progress: only the streak counter stops, while levels and collection stay intact.
The archive
Past challenges remain playable. The archive gives access to earlier dates, each with that day's exact grid.
One point is often misunderstood: completing an archived challenge does not change your streak. The streak measures regularity in the present, and catching up on a whole week in one evening would not be regularity. The archive is there to play grids you missed, to retry one you failed, or simply to string together several short problems — not to repair a counter.
The leaderboard
Each challenge has its own leaderboard, populated by players who have linked a Google account. Without an account the challenge is fully playable and your score is stored locally: only appearing on the leaderboard requires an identity.
The displayed nickname comes from the linked account. Requests to be removed from a leaderboard should go to the address listed on the contact page.
How to approach a daily grid
The temptation, on a single timed grid, is to rush. That is the costliest mistake available: one irreversible push turns thirty seconds saved into a full restart.
The method that works is the opening survey — locate the dead squares, the single passages and the turning areas before moving. On a short grid that reading takes about ten seconds and almost always prevents a deadlock. Time is measured, but nothing expires: nobody is penalised for thinking.
Daily Challenge or Adventure?
The two modes serve different purposes. Adventure offers a long progression, organised into themed chapters, where difficulty rises with word length. The Daily Challenge offers a single, comparable problem that finishes in one sitting.
They share the same engine, the same rules and the same difficulty modes. Playing the daily in Oracle and Adventure in Discovery is a common combination: one dense problem a day, and a relaxed progression alongside it.