How to Play Gokuro
Gokuro is a word puzzle where you find horizontal and vertical interlocking words.
Play Selection
There are 4 new puzzles released daily, and you can play any of the 28 puzzles from the current week.
Levels
Each day there are 4 new puzzles of increasing difficulty. They are based on grid sizes 5x5, 5x6, 6x7 and 7x7.
Choose which grid you want to play with the 4 selectors.
Days
You can step backwards / forwards and play any puzzle from the previous 6 days (total of 7 days available).
The Puzzle Grid
Letters are entered in the white cells with a click or a tap on a letter in the letter tray below.
Vowels
Cells in the grid with a red '*' are vowels.
Targets
At the row end and the bottom of columns are totals of the letter values - see 'Letter tray' below.
The '!' Indicator
If a target total has an exclamation point '!' after it, it means that the word contains at least 2 of one or more letters - not necessarily as a double.
The Letter Tray
The letter tray is made of letter-cards and shows you which letters are in the words.
The top row has all the vowels - whether or not they appear in the puzzle.
Letter Values
Each letter has a value (A=1, E=5, I=9, O=15, U=21) shown in the top right corner of the letter card.
The letters in a word add up to the target values at the end of the rows and bottom of the columns.
Letter Count
The figure in the red circle below the letter is the number of times it appears in the puzzle.
Using the Letter Tray
With a cell selected in the puzzle grid, click/tap on a letter in the tray to place it. This will reduce the number below the letter by 1.
If there are no more of a particular letter available, its card turns pink.
Remove a letter from the puzzle grid: Click or tap on a letter in the puzzle grid and it will return to the letter tray and increase the count by 1.
The Timer
As soon as you place your first letter in the grid, the timer starts.
You can click on the pause button to the left if you want to stop and come back.
The game also pauses automatically if:
- You change the difficulty grid
- You change the puzzle day
If you stay on the same day but choose a different grid, the one you have left will show a video play button - click/tap on that to return to carry on playing that grid.
Play Progress
As you place letters, the row/column targets reduce by the value of the letter you have placed. The goal of course is to find the right word and have the target reduced to 0.
If it reduces to 0 and you have the correct word - then the target box will turn green.
If it reduces to 0 and the box is pink, it means the total is correct, but the word is incorrect.
The game is complete when all targets are 0 and all boxes are green.
Your progress on any grid/day is stored so that you can leave a grid/day and return later to carry on.
When you complete a puzzle, the grid selector at the top shows a green tick.
Hints & Strategy
Gokuro is a game of logic and deduction. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
Note on Dictionary
The puzzle was created from a dictionary of over 11,000 valid words. It is likely that some of the words are not common; they may be archaic or have obscure meanings and they may be unfamiliar to you. It is possible to get the words by completing other interlocking words.
If there is a word unknown to you, take the chance to look it up and learn something new.
For British players, you will find that many spellings are US English; so you will get 'OCHER' instead of 'OCHRE', 'FAVOR' instead of 'FAVOUR'.