Key Moves for the Early Game
The nature of Kryss’ unique design requires you to think differently about each stage of a match. When a game is only starting or is only a few turns in, you need to keep some specific tactics in mind.
Take Your Time
Each turn has a 60-second time limit. This isn’t an enormous amount of time, but you don’t need to worry as much as you might think you do. At the start of the game, when you don’t know where to place your letters, remind yourself that your opponent doesn’t know either. Take the time as an opportunity to study the board, read the clues and plan your next move.
Guess When You Need To
There is no penalty for placing a letter in an incorrect square. All that happens is the game puts the letter back on your rack. You can even place letters on random squares instead of making an educated guess.
If you’re lucky or the hunch you had about a word was right, you’ll have moved more letters off of your rack. You get a five-point bonus every time you use all your letters in a single turn. Whether it’s intentional or not, getting that bonus is always beneficial.
Deduce What the Larger Words Are
Winning or losing a match will often come down to who completes the largest words on the board. You get a point bonus for completing a word, equal to the length of the word. When you figure out what the word is, make sure that you’ll be the one who actually fills it in.
If you keep adding letters to a word, you’ll help your opponent figure out what it is as well. And, if you can’t get the last few letters needed, your opponent might. Then, all of your hard work will have been for their benefit. Figure out what the larger words are, but take your time trying to fill them in.
Use the Power-ups
The power-ups are there to help. And, they can help you take an early lead in a game. It is helpful to save a few of them until the later game. In particular, Replace refreshes your letters and provides the chance to get an important letter you’ve been missing.
That said, and most of the time, the power-ups will help you learn more about the board. Information is key in Kryss. And early information is the most valuable.
Completing Kryss Answers in the Endgame
As with the first half of any match in Kryss, there are specific things you want to focus on in the second half. You need to make sure you don’t limit yourself as the board fills up, more words become obvious and the scores increase rapidly.
Don’t Overthink the Clues
The problem with the clues is that many of them are not as cryptic as you might assume. Kryss can’t populate the board with a bounty of complicated questions. Instead, it uses shorter questions that you can deduce quickly. That’s not going to prevent you from overthinking things, though. You need to stop yourself from doing that.
This is crucial for the clues that are presented as images. If you see an image of a paintbrush painting a wall yellow, the word you’re looking for probably isn’t “paints” or “coated.” It’s probably just “yellow.”
Hold Onto Important Letters
This relates to the earlier tactic of deducing the larger words. As the board fills up, the words will become obvious to everyone. You might see that the word “approaching” is almost full. All it’s missing is the O and the N, and you have the N. You might feel tempted to add the N to get one step closer, but resist this urge. You might have the N, but on the next turn, the game might give your opponent the O.
Save the best letters until you draw the other letters you need or you’ve given your opponent no other option but to play them. That’s when it’s time to fill the word in and get the massive and often game-winning bonus.
Take Advantage of the Bonus Squares
Placing a letter on a bonus square, if that letter belongs there, doubles any points you get that turn. That’s why you want to avoid placing any letters on those squares until later in the game. If you do it early, when you don’t know what any of the words are, you’ll only double a small number of points.
Saving the bonus squares for later, however, lets you score a massive amount of extra points. Landing on a bonus square while also completing three or more words will lead to a point bonus that’s worth celebrating.
Consult the Dictionary
If a word has a few letters added to it, and you think you can complete it but still aren’t exactly sure what the word is, seek help from the dictionary’s thesaurus. This might be tricky, considering the time limit, but if you are near a computer or you play the Overtime power-up, you’ll have enough time to check the thesaurus for words related to clues.
Getting help from the dictionary depends on what the clues are, of course. Usually, doing so is only helpful for single-word clues. For example, if the clue is “anger,” then a quick search of the thesaurus will help you realize that the answer might be “rage.”
Dominate Another Exciting Word Game
Kryss is an unconventional crossword puzzle game. The time limit and often bizarre clues make for a fast-paced and exciting time. If you enjoy Kryss’ pacing, you should look for other games that deliver similar action. One such game is Word Domination. Word Domination is similar to Scrabble and Words With Friends, but the smaller game board, five-round limit, and timer for each round force you to act quickly. It’s the perfect game for anyone who likes Scrabble but enjoys a faster pace.
Zac Pricener has been a content creator for the past eight years. He’s a bit of an all-around nerd, and he has a bad habit of working movie and TV show references into conversations whenever possible.
