Scoring
WordSQD Scoring and Difficulty Guide
WordSQD scoring uses the same formula for every player. Premium removes ads and changes cosmetics only; it does not change scoring.
The actual scoring formula
Base = word length × 100. Speed = whole seconds remaining × 20. Off-lead bonus = 25% of base when the answer does not start with the first required letter. Final = round((base + speed + off-lead) × combo multiplier × difficulty multiplier).
Difficulty multipliers
- Easy: 60 seconds, ×1.0
- Normal: 30 seconds, ×1.5
- Hard: 15 seconds, ×2.25
- Extreme: 8 seconds, ×3.5
- Forbidden: 30 seconds, avoid 3 letters, ×5
Combo multipliers
Consecutive correct answers increase the combo multiplier: ×1.0, ×1.1, ×1.2, ×1.3, ×1.4, then ×1.5 for six or more. A wrong answer, timeout, or skip resets the combo.
Worked example 1: safe Normal answer
Letters: TMR. Answer: TIMER. Length: 5. Seconds left: 18. Combo: first correct answer. TIMER starts with T, so there is no off-lead bonus.
Base 500 + speed 360 + off-lead 0 = raw 860. Raw 860 × combo 1.0 × Normal 1.5 = 1,290 points.
Worked example 2: longer off-lead answer on Hard
Letters: TMR. Answer: CUSTOMER. Length: 8. Seconds left: 10. Combo: third consecutive correct answer. CUSTOMER contains T before M before R and does not start with T.
Base 800 + speed 200 + off-lead 200 = raw 1,200. Raw 1,200 × combo 1.2 × Hard 2.25 = 3,240 points.
Worked example 3: skip score
A skip is worth up to 150 points before difficulty. On Normal with 15 of 30 seconds left, the skip score is round(150 × 0.5 × 1.5) = 113 points. The skip breaks the combo.
What affects score
- Word length.
- Whole seconds remaining.
- Whether your word starts with the first required letter.
- Current correct-answer combo.
- Difficulty.
What does not affect score
- Premium status.
- Display name.
- Theme choice.
- Whether you play on phone or desktop.
Leaderboard ranking
Daily boards rank by official server-verified scores. The board also shows best combo and longest-word length as useful context without revealing live Daily words.