Start with a bot: learn word battles without risking your rating
Choose Milo, Cleo or Atlas for an unrated Scramdle word battle. Learn the difficulty levels, three-minute rules and a simple plan for your first match.
Scramdle · PublishedA computer opponent, with no rating at stake
A Scramdle bot battle is a three-minute word scramble against a computer opponent. You can play as a guest, choose a difficulty and start without waiting for another person. Every bot match is unrated: winning or losing does not change your online rating or leaderboard position.
It is a useful way to learn the battle controls before challenging a friend or joining ranked play. You still have a clock and an opponent’s score to watch, so choose untimed Practice instead when you want room to think without a race.
1. Choose Milo, Cleo or Atlas
Open Battles, then select Play a bot. Choose one of the three named opponents below and tap Play Milo, Play Cleo or Play Atlas. A short countdown leads into the match. There is no friend invitation or second player’s ready check.
The choice changes both the bot’s pace and the word pool you face. Moving up introduces longer words as well as a stronger opponent. For a first attempt, choose Milo so you can learn the controls with shorter racks.
| Opponent | Word lengths | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Milo · Easy | 3–5 letters | The gentlest pace; a place to begin. |
| Cleo · Medium | 4–7 letters | A steadier challenge with longer racks. |
| Atlas · Hard | 6–9 letters | The quickest opponent and longest racks. |
2. Learn the fixed three-minute rules
Use every letter in the rack to form an accepted word. Tap the tiles or use the keyboard to enter your answer, then submit it. Each correct word earns 100 points, including at Hard difficulty. Skipping earns zero and moves you to the next rack.
Your opponent works through the same word sequence independently. You can therefore be on different racks at the same moment. The higher final score wins, and equal scores draw.
Battles have no hints, powerups, speed bonuses or extra seconds for solving a word. The match clock keeps running if you leave the page or lose your connection. Start when you have three uninterrupted minutes and an internet connection. The full game rules also explain how battles differ from the daily modes.
You: 6 correct words × 100 = 600 points Bot: 5 correct words × 100 = 500 points Result: you win; rating change = 0
3. Give your first match one small objective
For your first Milo match, make the objective learning the controls and finishing the round. You do not need a target score. Try reading the whole rack before tapping, then check that each letter has a place in your answer.
If you are repeatedly trying the same arrangement, tap Shuffle to change the display order. It keeps the same letters and clears your current answer, so use it when you want a fresh look. If you remain stuck, Skip lets you see the next rack for zero points.
For example, imagine a teaching rack D U C O L. CLOUD uses each letter once. If you have entered COULD, that uses the same letters too: a valid alternative anagram from Scramdle’s accepted word list earns the same 100 points. This rack is just an example, not a daily answer.
After the match, choose one thing to try next time: noticing repeated letters, checking a candidate before submitting, or moving on from a rack that has you stuck. Keep the same bot while you work on that one habit; changing both your approach and the difficulty makes the rounds harder to compare.
Read your result and start another round
The results show your score, words solved and the bot’s score. The rating-change area is labeled bot · unrated and shows zero. Open Review your words to see what you solved and skipped.
Tap Continue to return to the battle choices, keep Play a bot selected and start again. You can replay bot battles on the same day. New matches use randomized words with recent-word avoidance, rather than one fixed daily sequence; that does not mean a word can never appear again.
Bot games do not extend your daily streak. To record daily activity, complete Daily Scramdle or a daily Grid. The streaks guide explains which modes count.
Move up when you want a different challenge
If Milo feels comfortable, try Cleo. Choose Atlas when you want the fastest opponent and longer words. You can move back down for the next match; the labels are difficulty choices, not ratings you earn.
A win against a bot does not predict a particular ranked rating. Use these matches to learn the pace and controls, then challenge a friend for another unrated option. Playing another person requires an account; you can stay with bots as a guest.
If starting a new match returns you to an existing battle, finish the active match first, or cancel a waiting room before trying again. Returning to a running battle reconnects you to its existing clock; it does not restart it.