Games / Word Games / Compound Craft / Guide
Compound Craft
Wooden word blocks sit on a workbench. Tap two that belong together, like rain and bow, and they clamp into one painted plank. Fill the bench, fill your Workshop Book, and learn a few hundred compound words along the way.
What is a compound word?
A compound word is two smaller words joined to make a new one. Sun and flower make sunflower. Tooth and brush make toothbrush. The new word usually has its own meaning, and you can often guess it from the two halves, though not always (a butterfly isn't made of butter).
English also has hyphenated compounds and two word compounds, but Compound Craft sticks to the closed kind, the ones written as a single word. That's the kind kids learn first in school and the kind that's most fun to snap together.
What is Compound Craft?
Compound Craft is our compound words game. Each level puts a set of word blocks on the bench. Every block is half of a compound word, and every block has a partner. Pair them all up to finish the level. Nib, the pencil cup who lives on the shelf, cheers you on and looks a bit sad when you slip.
It's free, it runs in your browser on phone, tablet or computer, and there's nothing to install. Every word you make is saved to your Workshop Book on your device.
How to play
- Tap a block to pick it up.
- Tap a second block. If the two make a compound word, in either order, they slide together and the new word goes up on the shelf.
- If they don't make a word, both blocks shake and it counts as a slip.
- Pair every block to clear the bench.
Order doesn't matter in normal levels. Tap BOW then RAIN and you still get rainbow. Any real compound from our list counts, even if it isn't the pair we had in mind.
There's one catch. Sometimes two blocks make a real word but leave another block with no partner. The game warns you when that happens. Tap Undo and try a different pairing. Every bench can always be cleared completely.
Chain levels
Every fifth level is a Chain. You get a starting word in teal, and each block you add has to make a compound with the last word in the chain. For example: fire, light (firelight), house (lighthouse), work (housework), shop (workshop). Order matters here, since the new block always goes on the end. If you hit a dead end, undo and try another path. Chains start at 4 links and grow to 7 by level 60.
Level sizes and stars
| Levels | Compound words to make |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 4 |
| 5 to 14 | 5 |
| 15 to 30 | 6 |
| 31 to 60 | 7 |
| 61 and up | 8 |
| Every 5th level | A Chain instead |
Stars are about clean work. No slips and no glue earns 3 stars. One or two slips earns 2. More than that earns 1.
Tools: Undo, Mix and Glue
- Undo takes back your last pair. You can keep pressing it to step back further.
- Mix shuffles the blocks on the bench. Seeing them in new spots helps more than you'd think.
- Glue is the hint. It makes two blocks glow, and it always picks a pair that keeps the rest of the bench solvable. You start with 3, get another every 3 levels, and can hold up to 9.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys | Move between blocks |
| Enter or Space | Pick the highlighted block |
| U or Ctrl + Z | Undo |
| H | Use glue |
| Esc | Pause |
Daily Craft and Rush
Daily Craft
Eight pairs, the same for everyone each day. You start at 1,000 points and lose 2 for every second, 40 for every slip and 100 for every glue, with a floor of 100. Finish on back to back days to keep your streak going.
Rush
Ninety seconds and a fresh bench of 5 pairs every time you clear one. Each word is worth 10 points, doubled once you're on a streak of 3, tripled at 6 and quadrupled at 9. A slip costs 2 seconds and breaks the streak. Clearing a whole bench adds 30 points and 5 seconds. No undo and no glue in Rush, so it's all you.
Signed in players get their daily and Rush scores on the leaderboards.
A list of compound words by topic
The Workshop Book holds 870 compound words on 10 shelves. Here are a few from each one, all taken straight from the game, if you want a starting list for a lesson or just to warm up.
| Shelf | Words on it | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | 83 | sunflower, rainbow, snowflake, waterfall, seashell, wildlife |
| Weather and Sky | 69 | thunderstorm, hailstone, midnight, afternoon, weekend, birthday |
| Home | 104 | bedroom, doorbell, fireplace, backyard, upstairs, cupboard |
| Food | 87 | pancake, watermelon, strawberry, popcorn, peanut, pineapple |
| Animals | 83 | butterfly, ladybug, jellyfish, seahorse, woodpecker, rattlesnake |
| Body and Clothes | 82 | eyebrow, fingernail, footprint, raincoat, necklace, backpack |
| Sports and Play | 72 | basketball, skateboard, playground, teammate, hopscotch, seesaw |
| People | 101 | grandmother, firefighter, snowman, babysitter, everyone, nobody |
| Tools and Things | 96 | screwdriver, wheelbarrow, flashlight, notebook, paintbrush, newspaper |
| Places and Travel | 93 | airport, passport, railroad, sidewalk, drawbridge, windmill |
Each shelf has a progress bar in the book, and after a level we tell you how many more words you need to reach the next round number on your closest shelf.
Tips and strategy
- Find the picky blocks first. Words like SCREW or HAIL only go one or two ways. Pair those early and leave flexible halves like BALL, MAN, HOUSE or LIGHT for last.
- Count partners before you commit. If a block like SUN could go with two different blocks on the bench, look at which of those two has another option. Give SUN the one that doesn't.
- Trust the stuck warning. When the game says a block is stuck, undo right away. You haven't lost a star, since only wrong pairs count as slips.
- Say the pair out loud. Odd ones like cup and board (cupboard) or ear and ring (earring) look strange on blocks but sound right when spoken.
- In Chains, look one step ahead. Before adding a block, check that it can lead somewhere. A word that starts no compounds on the bench is a dead end.
- In Rush, speed beats care up to a point. The multiplier is worth more than the 2 seconds a slip costs, but a slip also resets the multiplier. Go fast on easy pairs, slow down on doubtful ones.
Questions
What are compound words?
Two words joined into one new word, like sun + flower = sunflower or foot + ball = football.
What are some examples of compound words for kids?
Rainbow, cupcake, snowman, toothbrush, ladybug, backpack, playground and sunflower are all in the game and easy to picture.
How many compound words are in Compound Craft?
870, sorted onto 10 themed shelves in the Workshop Book.
Does the order of the blocks matter?
Not in normal levels. In Chain levels it does, because each new block goes on the end of the last word.
Is Compound Craft free?
Yes. It's free to play in your browser on phone, tablet or computer, with no download and no ads.
Is Compound Craft good for the classroom?
It works well as practice, since every word is a closed compound and the Workshop Book doubles as a word list. There are no ads, and progress saves on the device.
