Spell It

What is Spell It?

Spell It is a spelling game built around listening. Kiko, a green parrot on a jungle branch, reads each word aloud using your device's built in voice. You spell it on the keyboard and press Check. That's the whole idea, and it's the same way spelling is tested in class: hear it, then write it.

There are 15 levels of 10 words, a Daily Ten that everyone shares, and an endless Streak mode. Words start at 3 letters and climb to 10 letter words like strawberry. We leave out sound alike words such as there and their, or right and write, so you're never asked to guess which one Kiko meant.

It's free in your browser on phone, tablet or computer, with no download and no ads.

How to play

1. Kiko says the word as soon as it appears. Empty slots show how many letters it has.
2. Type the letters on the on-screen keyboard or your own keyboard.
3. Press Check (or Enter) when every slot is full.
4. If you're right, you score and move on. If not, the correct spelling appears with the letters you missed highlighted. In Voice mode, Kiko says the word once more.

Listening tools

• Hear it plays the word again.
• Slower says it at about half speed, which helps a lot with long words and quiet consonants.
• Clue first gives you the word in a sentence with a blank, like "Bring an umbrella in case of ___." Kiko reads the full sentence aloud. About 180 of our everyday words have a sentence. After that, or for words without one, Clue fills in the next letter from the start of the word.

No sound? Switch the title screen toggle from Voice to Peek. In Peek mode the word flashes in Kiko's speech bubble for a moment, and the buttons become Peek and Long peek. If your device has no English voice, the game switches to Peek by itself.

Controls on phone and computer

Levels and hearts

Each level is 10 words and you have 3 hearts. A wrong spelling costs a heart. Finish the level with hearts left to clear it, and the hearts you keep become your stars, so a perfect level is 3 stars.

Levels 11 to 15 go back to shorter lengths but use harder words, the kind that trip people up even when they're short. Level 15 is where words like chocolate, beautiful, knowledge and necessary live.

Scoring

• 10 points per letter for every word you spell right.
• Clean bonus: 5 more per letter if you only heard the word once and used no letter clues. The sentence clue doesn't cancel it.
• Streak bonus: each word in a row adds 10%, up to double points.

You start with 3 letter clues and earn one more for every 5 words you spell right, up to 9. Clue never gives away the last letter, so you always finish the word yourself.

Daily Ten and Streak

The Daily Ten is the same 10 words for everyone each day. They ramp from 3 or 4 letters up to 8 to 10, and the last three can come from the harder word list. There are no hearts in the daily, so you always see all ten. Your share card is a row of green and red squares.

Streak is endless. You have 3 hearts and the words grow from 3 to 5 letters at the start up to 7 to 10 letters after 20 words. Your best score goes on the leaderboard when you're signed in.

Kiko's hats

Every correct word in any mode counts toward new looks for Kiko. Pick any you've unlocked from the title screen.

Tips for spelling practice

• Clap out the syllables. Split the word into beats (but, ter, fly) and spell one beat at a time. Long words get much less scary.
• Use Slower on anything over 6 letters. It costs you the clean bonus, but it's the best way to catch silent letters and double consonants.
• Take the sentence clue for free. It never touches your score, and hearing a word in context helps you picture it.
• Study your misses. The results screen lists the words you got wrong. Those are the ones to write out by hand a few times.
• Try Peek mode for visual memory. Seeing a word for a second and then spelling it from memory is a different skill from spelling by ear, and it's worth practicing both.
• Replay a level for 3 stars. Each level uses the same 10 words every time, so it doubles as a practice list.

Questions