Word Games
Most word games tell you what you scored. This one tells you what you missed — the word that was sitting on your rack the whole time, where it would have gone, and what it means.
I've played tile word games for years, always against the computer, always on the same middle setting. The higher levels weren't more interesting — they were just more irritating, and I never learned anything from them. I'd play the same words I always play, win or lose, and close the app no wiser.
What I actually wanted was an opponent that made me better. Not one that went easy on me, and not one that hid words from me to level the field — one that showed me the words I already had and hadn't seen.
"I want a game with a clever brain in there to help me improve and learn the words."
Shelley Grell — on the brief for ScriptoriumSo Scriptorium works backwards from that. Before every turn it searches every legal play available to you and tells you the score of the best one — but not the word. You commit first. Then it shows you what you had: the word, its placement, its meaning, and how far short you fell. Match it and you get a bonus. At the end of the game you get the full list of everything you walked past.
Built with Claude over several sessions, tested by playing it badly, and revised each time something turned out not to work. That process is the point of this site.
A tile word game for one player against the Scribe. Standard 15×15 board and 100 tiles, with a coaching layer built in: the score of your best available play is shown before every turn, and the word itself is revealed only after you commit — along with the runners-up you missed and how close you came. Three opponents, all using the same full dictionary. The easier ones play worse; they don’t know less.
Before each turn you're told how many points are sitting on your rack, and how long the word is. Not the word. You have to find it.
Once you commit, the best play appears — word, position, definition, the runners-up, and your accuracy as a percentage. It stays on screen until you’re ready to move on.
173,889 words, New Zealand and UK spelling only. Colour yes, color no. Built from open sources, including the short words word-game players live on. Every word played comes with its meaning.
Brother Anselm, Sister Perpetua, or The Abbot. All three search every legal play; the gentler ones simply choose worse moves and won’t block your lanes.