Full guide: how to find words hidden in the grid by drawing a line across adjacent letters and clear the entire board with nothing left over. Controls on muta.pro and tips.
Filword is a single-player word puzzle. On an 8×8 board words united by a common theme are hidden; each one is laid out along a winding path across adjacent cells. Unlike a crossword you do not need to write in letters — they are all already on the board, you just need to spot the words. The goal is to find all the words of the theme, leaving not a single unused letter on the board.
Each level generates an 8×8 grid: the words are laid out along curved paths (no diagonals), and the remaining cells are filled with random letters. On the left you can choose one of five themes — animals, cities, food, plants, space — each with its own list of ten words. On the right you see the list of words to find, the “found / total” counters, the time and the theme's personal best.
Hold down the first letter and drag with the cursor (or your finger) across adjacent cells — horizontally and vertically, no diagonals. The selected cells are highlighted in gold.
On the right, the word you are tracing builds up in real time. If you go the wrong way, step back to the second-to-last cell and the extra letter will detach from the path.
Release the button (lift your finger) and the game checks the path against the list. Words count both forwards and backwards.
A correct word is filled with the theme colour and crossed out in the “Words to find” list. If the word is not on the list, the hint “✗ … — not on the list” appears.
“💡 Hint” highlights the first letter of a random word and tells you its length. “✦ New level” builds a fresh puzzle, and “🔀 Shuffle” reshuffles the extra letters.
The level is complete when all the words of the theme are found and no free letters remain on the board. A “Level complete!” screen appears with the number of words and the time; if you beat your previous result for this theme, “New theme record!” is noted. Progress is shown by the fill bar and the caption “N of N”. You compete against yourself — for the best time.
The words share a common list — run through fitting theme-related names and look for their letters.
Words count backwards too, so scan the paths in both directions.
Unusual letters appear less often — from them it is easier to unwind a hidden word.
Towards the end the free cells add up to the last words: look at what is not yet filled.
In Filword the loser is not the one who knows words poorly, but the one who scans the board chaotically. A strong strategy is a traversal order: work not “wherever you spot a letter” but systematically, theme by theme, longest words first. The 8×8 board is tiled entirely with words, so every word found narrows the space for the rest.
Start with the longest words of the theme: their path takes up many cells and is tightly constrained, so there are fewer ways to lay it out — they are easier to confirm.
A corner cell has only two neighbours, an edge cell three. A path through them is almost forced, so a word starting at the board's border reads more unambiguously than in the centre.
All the words share a common list. Read the list on the left and keep two or three expected letters in mind — your eye will start catching the right first letters on the board by itself.
Watch the “found / total” counter and the list: closed words are crossed out, and by the finish the free cells add up to the last answers on their own.
“КОТ” starts from the corner: edge cells have few neighbours, so a word's path along the board's border is the easiest to confirm.
A word in Filword is a broken line across adjacent cells without diagonals, and it can bend as much as you like. Tactics are about how to guide your finger carefully and not lose an already-guessed word over one extra cell.
A word counts backwards too. Found a strange combination — read the path from the other end, often it is a ready answer.
Went the wrong way — return the cursor to the second-to-last cell. The extra letter detaches from the path, no need to start over.
Ж, Ц, Щ, Ы, Э appear rarely in the set. Unwinding a word from such a letter is faster than from the common О and А.
“СЛОН” bends downward on the second letter: the path runs across adjacent cells and turns freely at a right angle.
On muta.pro there are five themes — animals, cities, food, plants, space — each with its own list of ten words. Switching the theme on the left completely rebuilds the board, so you effectively get five different difficulty sets in one game.
Start with the theme whose vocabulary is closest to you. Quick finds set the pace and warm up your “scanning” eye before a hard set.
The “🔀 Shuffle” button reshuffles only the extra letters without touching the words. A fresh cell background often helps you see what your eye has already “glazed over”.
Your rival is your own previous result: each theme has its own personal best. Complete the set, then repeat it for speed and beat your time.
“✦ New level” builds a fresh grid of the same theme — the same words lie differently, and it is excellent recognition practice.
Tired of one vocabulary — switch to space or cities. The differing length and rarity of letters keeps your skill sharp.
Most standstills in Filword come not from not knowing words, but from habits that waste time. Let's look at what stops you from clearing the board quickly.