What’s Mind the Gaps All About?
Mind the Gaps is a mix of different types of word games. We added a dash of anagram solvers, a pinch of crossword puzzles and a sprinkling of spelling bees together to serve you your next favorite word game.
The game is organized into 5 levels (to start), and each level split into 10 stages. To clear each stage, you need to find a certain number of words. And, as you get further into the levels and stages, the words become longer and more complex. Oh, and we need to mention the timer. You have 60 seconds to clear each stage. So, you’d better think fast and spell faster.
How Mind the Gaps Works
OK. It’s time for a full breakdown of what you’ll be doing when you open Mind the Gaps in the WordFinder app. The first thing you’ll see after tapping the “Mini-Games” button in the app is the list of levels. Levels are the puzzle packs, and the stages within them are the actual puzzles. As you finish each stage, you’ll receive a one, two or three-star ranking based on how you did.
Tap on Stage 1 of Level 1 to get going. Once you tap on the “Play” button that pops up, the action will begin.
The game will show you a four-letter word with all but one of its letters missing. The missing letters are beneath the word. Find the word using those letters. The letter already in the puzzle is a clue for what word you’re trying to spell.
When you successfully spell a word, you’ll partially fill a meter near the top of the screen. On that meter are three stars. To clear a stage, you need to fill the meter enough to reach at least one of the stars.
The stage ends once you spell enough words to earn three stars or if the 60-second timer runs out.
And that’s all there is to playing Mind the Gaps. Go ahead and play a couple of the stages, and you’ll quickly see why it’s so much fun.
Progression and Later Stages
Wondering where the complexity we mentioned earlier comes into play? Right here. Level 1 has four-letter words. Level 2 has five-letter words. Can you guess what’s waiting for you in Level 3? Yes, the word lengths increase as you make your way through the levels.
You still need to earn at least a one-star rank on each stage, and the timer always stays at 60 seconds. This is where the process of unscrambling letters to make words gets “complex.”
Some Free Help With Progression
Now, while we wanted to provide a challenge to you, we also wanted to be fair. That’s why we added two features to balance things out.
The first was a reasonable word list. Words do get more challenging the further you get, but you don’t have to worry about some truly bizarre, archaic, or obscure words popping up. You don't need to achieve mastery of the Scrabble dictionary to be successful.
The second thing was giving you an option to simply skip a word. When you try to spell a word and get it wrong, or if you take too long to guess, a “skip” button appears beneath the letters. If you press the button, the game will replace the word with a new one. The only thing to keep in mind is that you won’t earn any points when you skip a word.
Watch Our Video for More Information
Still need some more clarity on the game and how it works before you try it? We have you covered. When the game launched, we released a quick summary video on our Instagram page to celebrate. Go ahead and follow this link to see the video. (Oh, and follow us on Instagram while you’re there.)
What’s the Best Way to Play?
Are you having trouble figuring out what the words are? Is getting caught on one or two of them costing you the high score or your chance to move onto the next round? Mind the Gaps has a simple premise, but it doesn’t want to insult you by going easy on you. You need to have your head in the game to succeed. And you do that by keeping these strategies in mind.
Tap the letters instead of sliding them: This is a simple tip and one that’s kind of obvious to some, but it’s still important. You have the option to either tap on a letter to add it to a word or hold and drag it to your desired spot. While there might be rare instances when you want to slide a letter to a spot, tapping on them is almost always the better choice as it’s faster.
Choose progression or a high score: Once you get to the later stages, the margin for error is as small as it gets. You need to be fast and confident with your spelling. This is also when you need to know what’s more important to you: simply clearing the level or getting a three-star ranking. Remember, you only need to reach one star to pass a stage. Do you want to reach the next stage right away, or do you want to replay a stage multiple times until you get all three stars?
Boost your vocabulary: This is a trick we suggest for improving your skills in every word game (and for improving your life in general). You don’t want to waste your precious seconds on a guess. Expand your vocabulary to build your confidence, which will then help you win more often.
Replay earlier stages: Practice makes perfect. And, if your goal is to have perfect scores for every stage, you’ll need lots of practice. Fortunately, you are free to replay any of the levels you’ve already completed. If you need to get your reflexes up to speed for the harder stages, playing the earlier stages can really help. You also need to earn enough stars to unlock subsequent levels.
Spend Crowns to Keep the Game Going
When you’re playing Mind the Gaps, don’t stress too much about running out of time. If that happens, we have one last saving grace for you: You can spend 10 Crowns to add 30 more seconds to the timer. Are you unsure what Crowns are? They are the WordFinder app’s in-game currency, and they have all sorts of uses. Make the smart play and read our complete Crowns overview to learn what they are and how they work.
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.
