Your turn — start with any word you like.
| Type a word | It must start with the required letter. |
| Submit | Play it and pass the turn. |
Word Chain is the car-journey game made digital. Each word must begin with the last letter of the word before it, so APPLE leads to ELEPHANT, which leads to TIGER, and on it goes. Run out of words and you lose the chain.
The Japanese play a version called shiritori, and the same trap exists in every language: certain letters are far harder to start with than others. Ending your word on a difficult letter is a genuine tactic, and one most players discover only after being caught out by it.
Think about the letter you leave behind. Ending on an awkward letter makes life hard for your opponent, and ending on a common one like E or R hands them an easy reply.
Build a stock of words for the difficult letters. Knowing two or three words beginning with the letters you struggle with turns a losing position into a comfortable one.
Watch what has already been used. Words cannot be repeated, so as the chain lengthens the easy options disappear and the letters you were relying on become traps.
Do not overthink the first word. Any word starts the chain, so opening with something that ends on a hard letter puts pressure on immediately.
Each word must begin with the final letter of the previous word, and no word may be repeated.
The chain breaks and the round ends.
It is the same idea. Shiritori is the Japanese version, played by the same rules.
Ones that few words begin with. Leaving your opponent on a difficult letter is a real tactic.
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