How to Play a Word Search Puzzle
A word search hides a list of words inside a grid of letters. Your goal is to find every word on the list. Each word follows one straight line; it may run across a row, down a column, or along a diagonal.
Read the word list first
Before searching the grid, look at the words you need to find. Notice their first and last letters and any unusual letter pairs. A word such as swing is easier to spot when you look for SW than when you scan every letter separately.
Words on Riddle Lamp can run in eight directions: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, forwards or backwards. Letters in a word never turn a corner.
Select a word
When you find a word, drag from its first letter to its last letter with a mouse or on a touch screen. You can also tap the first letter and then the last letter. For keyboard play, focus and activate the first and last letter buttons.
A correctly selected word is highlighted in the grid and marked as found on the word list. The counter shows how many words you have found so far. Keep searching until you have completed the list.
A simple way to search
Try this approach when a word does not jump out at you:
- Find its first letter. Look at each occurrence in the grid.
- Check the surrounding letters. The next letter could be in any of the eight directions.
- Follow a straight line. If the letters continue to spell your word, trace them to the end.
- Try the reverse direction. If you cannot find a word forwards, look for its last letter and work backwards.
Start with a longer word or one containing a distinctive pair of letters. Short words often become easier to find after you have spotted a few longer ones. Words may cross or share letters, so a highlighted letter can still be part of another answer.
Choose a difficulty
Riddle Lamp’s easy word searches contain five words in a 7 × 7 grid. They are a quick place to start. Medium searches contain ten words in a 14 × 14 grid and give you more letters to examine.
Try Sunny Park for an easy first game, Coastal Finds for a medium hunt, or browse all word searches to choose a theme.
For a curated starter set, see easy puzzles for kids.
Play online or on paper
Your online progress is saved in this browser, so you can return to an unfinished puzzle. Reset game starts that board again. If you prefer a pencil, select Print puzzle on the puzzle page and search the printed grid at your own pace.
Ready for the next hunt? Choose a word search and find every word on its list.