How to play

Every puzzle is one anime name: a character, or a term the fandom would recognise. The grid tells you how long it is. You get one more guess than the answer has letters, so a five letter answer gives you six tries.

There is no dictionary check. Anime names are not dictionary words, so any combination of letters submits. The only guess we refuse is one of the wrong length, and that costs you nothing but a shake.

Win or lose, the puzzle ends with a card telling you which series the answer came from, what it is, and why it matters. That card is the point of the game as much as the guessing is.

• GTeal: right letter, right spotThat letter is in the answer and you put it in the correct position.
• OAmber: right letter, wrong spotThe answer contains this letter, but somewhere else.
• XInk grey: not in the answerThe letter does not appear in the answer at all.

Repeated letters follow the usual rule: an exact match is claimed first, then any leftover copies of that letter in the answer are handed out left to right. If the answer holds one N and you guess two, only one of them lights up.

A fresh browser starts with three hints and three darts. Both are optional.

• HintShows a one line clue about the answer. One hint per puzzle.
• DartStrikes up to four letters off the keyboard that are definitely not in the answer. Throw as many as you own.

Assists never fire on their own and never interrupt an animation. Ways to earn more are coming later.

Daily is one puzzle for everyone, keyed to the UTC date. It resets at 00:00 UTC and the game shows a countdown to the next one. Only Daily feeds your stats and your streak, and only Daily gives you a share grid.

Classic is unlimited practice in three difficulty bands. Easy runs four and five letter answers from the best known series. Normal moves to five and six letters. Hard goes up to eight letters and reaches into deeper cuts. Your run is the number of wins in a row, and the best run per band is remembered.

Archive rounds replay a past Daily. They are practice, clearly labelled as such, and never touch your stats.