How to play a three-minute word battle with a friend

A live match, with no rating at stake

To play a friend in Scramdle, both of you log in, add each other as friends, then open Battles → Play a friend. Choose their username and a word difficulty, and send a challenge. Your friend joins from their inbox; the countdown begins only after you both tap “I’m ready.”

You each work through the same sequence of scrambled words during one three-minute match. Solve more words to score more points. Friendly battles are always unrated: winning or losing does not change either player’s online battle rating.

Plan to be online together. This is live play, so leave time for the invitation and ready check as well as the three-minute round. If you are waiting for someone, Practice lets you warm up without a timer.

1. Add your friend by username

Use your own Scramdle account on each device. Log in if you already have one, or create an account before trying to play another person. Ask your friend for their Scramdle username; the player search uses usernames, not email addresses.

Open Friends, enter at least two characters in “Find a player by username,” and check the name before tapping “Add friend.” Searching more of the username helps you pick the right person.

Your friend opens Friends → Requests and taps “Accept.” They can also accept the request from the bell-shaped Inbox button. Once accepted, you appear in each other’s friends list. A pending friend request alone does not make someone available in the battle picker.

2. Choose the words and send a challenge

Open Play a friend from Battles. In “Choose a friend,” select the person you just added. Set “Word difficulty” to Easy for five-letter words, Medium for seven letters, or Hard for nine letters, then tap “Send challenge.” You can also start from the “Challenge” button on their Friends card.

Agree on the difficulty before sending. For a first match, five-letter words give you shorter racks while you learn the controls. Choosing a longer word length does not increase the points awarded for each solve in a battle.

The challenge appears in your friend’s inbox and expires after five minutes. Keep the waiting screen open while they join. Sending a challenge does not start the game clock, and there is no room code to exchange when using the friends dropdown.

3. Join the room, then both confirm ready

Your friend taps the Inbox bell, finds your challenge and selects “Join room.” This accepts the battle invitation. You will both see a ready room with your opponent’s name and the selected word difficulty.

Each player taps “I’m ready.” If you see “Waiting for your opponent…,” you have completed your part; the other player still needs to confirm. Once both are ready, a short countdown leads into the match.

These are three different confirmations. Accepting a friendship saves the connection. Joining a room accepts one match. The ready check tells Scramdle that both players can begin.

4. Solve words against the shared clock

Rearrange all the letters in the rack to make a valid word, then submit it with Enter. You can tap the letter tiles or use the keyboard. A correct solution moves you to the next rack. Shuffle changes the displayed arrangement; Skip moves past a word without earning points.

Both players receive the same word sequence, but you advance independently. If one person skips a rack while the other keeps working on it, you may be looking at different words at that moment. There are no hints, powerups or extra seconds for a correct answer in battles.

Every solved word earns 100 points at every difficulty. For an invented example, eight correct answers earn 800 points and seven earn 700, so the player with eight wins. If both solve eight, the 800–800 result is a draw. Skipped words earn zero; they do not add to the solved count.

The timer keeps running if you switch away, close the game or lose your connection. Start when you can stay for the round. The Scramdle rules explain how battles differ from Daily Scramdle and Time Attack scoring.

5. Review the result or start another round

At the end, compare the scores and open “Review your words” to revisit solved and skipped racks. A friendly result shows no rating change. It is a chance to talk through a word you missed without putting your ranked progress on the line.

When the result offers “Unrated rematch,” it sends a new invitation to the same saved friend. Your friend joins again and you both confirm ready for the next round. Battles can be played again on the same day; they do not have the one-attempt-per-date limit of daily modes.

Use “Share results” if you want to share the outcome, or “Continue” to leave the results screen. If your friend is done for now, a bot battle offers a computer opponent and is also unrated.

If the challenge does not appear

If your friend is missing from the dropdown, check that the friend request was accepted, that you are signed in to the intended account and that the friendship is still present. The picker lists saved friends, not every player you can find through search.

If the invitation expired, send a fresh challenge when you are both available. If another battle is already open, finish the running match, or cancel a waiting invitation or room, before starting a new one. Your Inbox can show “Return to your battle” to reopen an existing match; reopening it does not pause or restart the clock.

If a friendship or challenge makes you uncomfortable, use the report or block controls beside the player’s name. Blocking removes the friendship and pending invitations and prevents new matching; it does not stop a match that is already underway. You can keep social play limited to people you want to challenge.