Word Burrow

Word Burrow

Help Digby the gopher dig up words! Link touching letter tiles into words. Long words score big, make shiny gem tiles, and keep the fire away from the bottom of the burrow.

You've been challenged!

You'll get exactly the same starting board. Power-ups are off so it's a fair match.

WORD

Pick a letter

Welcome, !

This is your player code. Keep it somewhere safe (write it down or take a screenshot). If you ever forget your password, it lets you set a new one.

You can see it again any time under Leaderboard & stats → My stats. Don't share it.

Sound & music

How to play

• Pick tiles that touch: above, below, or the slanted neighbours in the next column. Words need 3 or more letters.
• Click tiles, drag across them, or just type the word.
• Tile colour shows letter value: 1 2–3 4–5 8–10. Qu counts as two letters.
• 5, 6 and 7+ letter words make gem tiles: Emerald ×1.5, Gold ×2, Diamond ×3.
• Words of 5+ letters in a row build a streak: +10% per word, up to +50%.
• Fire tiles burn down one row every turn. If one burns off the bottom, the game ends. Use a fire tile in a word to put it out.
• Tunnel Rescue (optional): press Start challenge whenever you want extra points. While it's on, every word you play is a guess at Digby's mystery word, and its matching letters get revealed. A word of 5 letters or fewer that reveals nothing new drops a rock into his tunnel; 6+ letter words are always safe. Finish the rescue task to clear a rock. Reveal the whole word to dig him out for a big bonus and a Diamond tile, or spell the mystery word on the board for a triple jackpot. Six rocks fill the tunnel: you lose points and a fire tile drops in. Giving up costs points too.
• Hazards: from level 2, boulders (grey cracked tiles) block the board until you play a word touching them. From level 3, a thief mole (brown tile with a pink nose) nibbles points every turn until you catch it by using it in a word, which pays a bonus.
• Speed Dig and Deep Dig are two more optional challenges. Each one shows what you win and what you lose before you start. Giving up costs the same as failing.
• Difficulty (on the start screen or in the Menu) changes how often fire, boulders and moles appear. Each difficulty has its own high-score leaderboard. It's set when a game starts, so a change applies to your next game. The Daily Burrow is always played on Normal. Theme changes the scenery.
• Burrow Battle (2 to 4 players): take turns on the same board. Each turn, play one word or pass. First to the target score wins, but the round is always finished first: everyone who hasn't had their turn yet that round gets one last turn to beat them. Abilities (once each per game): Double Dig doubles your next word, Shake Up reshuffles the letters, Rock Slide: tap it to get it ready, play your word, then you get 10 seconds to pick 3 tiles that turn to stone for the next player's turn (any you don't pick in time are chosen at random, and a gem underneath comes back afterwards), and Lantern shows the best word. A 7+ letter word recharges one used ability. Complete the race challenge first for bonus points. With Power-ups: On, everyone earns battle acorns 🌰 during the battle (4+ letter words, long words, gems, fires, the race challenge) and spends them in the 🌰 Shop tab: Vowel Drop and Pickaxe (2), Swap (3), Water Bucket and Extra Time (4, once per battle), Golden Shovel (5), Flip to any consonant (6) and Wild Tile (7). One power-up per turn, and everyone sees it. Tap one during someone else's turn to have it ready the moment yours starts. Golden Shovel and Double Dig don't stack. Teams (optional, 4 players): set Teams to On and it's 2 vs 2. Turns go back and forth between the teams, so partners take turns. Both partners' words add to the team score, the first team to the target wins (after finishing the round), and each team shares one acorn bag. Your partner sees the tiles you pick as you go, so you can plan together. The host can tap Change partners in the waiting room. When the battle ends, any player can start a rematch. Quick match pairs you with the next person who taps it, for a 1-on-1 battle that starts by itself. Need a break? The host can pause from the Menu: the board is covered for everyone and the turn timer stops until the host resumes. Dropped out? Open the game and tap Rejoin battle, or on another phone or PC choose Join with code and use the same name. The game code is shown on the battle screen and in the Menu. Your score and abilities are kept. (If the host's app closes, that battle ends.) A fire tile burning off the bottom costs the player whose turn it is 250 points.
• Music: Word Burrow has its own tunes: a relaxing daytime song, a music-box song for the Night theme, and a fast battle theme with special sound effects for Burrow Battle. The music picks up a little when fire gets close or the battle gets tight. Open Sound & music (Menu or start screen) to switch each one on or off and set the music and sound-effect volumes. Sound at the top turns everything off.
• Acorns 🌰 and power-ups: earn acorns with 6+ letter words, gem tiles, putting out fires, catching moles, level-ups, challenges, badges, battle wins and your first Daily of the day. Spend them in Digby's Shop (Menu, start screen, or the 🌰 button) on power-ups like Swap, Flip, Wild Tile, Water Bucket and Golden Shovel. Carry up to 3. You also get a free one each day, for the bonus word, and for 3 long words in a row. Power-ups are off in the Daily Burrow, and High scores made with them show a 🌰.
• Zen Burrow: a relaxing game with no fire, boulders, moles or clock. It isn't scored on the leaderboard and earns no acorns.
• Challenge a friend: after a Classic game, send a link. Your friend plays the exact same starting board and tries to beat your score.
• Daily streak 🔥: play on consecutive days for bonus acorns (day 3, 7, 14 and 30 pay the most).
• Digby's Wardrobe: in the shop, spend acorns on hats and glasses for Digby, and new tile styles. Just for looks.
• The burrow gets deeper as you level up: clay at level 3, bedrock at 5, the Crystal Cave at 7 and the Lava Cavern at 10.
• Themes: "Auto" (the default) follows the seasons, with Halloween in late October and night in the evening. Or pick your favourite theme in the Menu. Colour help (Menu) adds patterns and symbols as well as colours.
• Watch a battle: pick Burrow Battle, then Watch, and enter the battle's code to follow it live.
• Battle reactions: tap 😀 during a battle to send 👍 😮 🔥 😂 👏 😬 to everyone.
• Word meanings: tap a word you played (under Words, at game over, or a battle's last word) to see what it means. Needs an internet connection.
• Blitz: 3 minutes on the clock, no hazards, no power-ups, and its own leaderboard. The clock pauses if you open a menu.
• Weekly tournament: your best Classic score on Normal (no power-ups) each week goes on the This week board. It resets every Monday, and last week's winner wears a 👑.
• Boss levels: at level 5 the Mole King appears (catch him for a big bonus); at level 10 the Fire Dragon rains fire for 5 turns (survive for a bonus). They return every 10 levels.
• Badges: 19 to collect, from your first word to the 25K Club. See them under Leaderboard & stats → My stats. After a game, Copy my result to brag to friends.
• Finding things: the Challenges, Bonus and Words tabs sit under the buttons; tap one to open it, tap again to close it. A dot means something new is in there. Tap the 🏆 at the top for the leaderboard and your stats.
• Your score goes on the leaderboard when the game ends, or when you choose Finish & post score from the menu.

Burrow Battle

2 to 4 players, one board. Take turns finding words. First to the target score wins.

Winner!

Menu

Game over!

Final score