Word Chain Scoring System
The scoring system is straightforward once you stop looking at word length in isolation. Long words help, but streak usually matters more. In timed runs, stability can wreck a promising score if you keep escaping with short words.
Core score formula
Difficulty bonus is +0 on Easy, +1 on Normal, and +3 on Hard. After that, the important part is whether you can keep the streak alive long enough for combo to matter.
- baseScore = clamp(wordLength, 1..20) + difficultyBonus
- combo = min(2.5, 1 + streak / 10)
- gainedScore = round(baseScore * combo)
Timed stability thresholds
Stability has a cap, and when it hits zero in timed mode the run is over. That is why a chain can still look valid on paper while quietly falling apart in practice.
- Easy: words under 3 letters give stability -1; words >= 6 restore +1.
- Normal: words under 4 letters give stability -1; words >= 7 restore +1.
- Hard: words under 5 letters give stability -2; words >= 8 restore +2.
Reactor charge model
Reactor capacity is limited, so overflow is not wasted detail. On longer runs, score planning and reactor planning end up being the same decision from two different angles.
- Base reactor charge = wordLength + difficultyReactorBonus + rareLetterBonus + 2.
- Difficulty reactor bonus: Easy +0, Normal +1, Hard +2.
- Pulse Echo card boosts next charge event by 50 percent.
Worked example (Normal mode)
If your streak is 12 and you play a 7-letter word on Normal, base score is 8 and combo is 2.2. That rounds to 18 points. The point of the example is simple: by that stage of a run, protecting streak is often worth more than squeezing out one extra letter.