What is Relio?
Relio is a French letter-grid game in the spirit of Boggle: you link neighbouring tiles to make words, as many as you can in 90 seconds. Each word scores points based on its length. A new grid goes live every day on the Relio page, the same for every player.
The grid has 5 × 5 tiles. It is built to hold at least 70 words, including at least two of 6 letters or more. Letters carry no accents, and only French words count, so it suits French speakers and confident learners.
The rules of Relio
Making a word
You build a word by moving from one tile to a neighbouring one: left, right, up, down or diagonally. Each tile can only be used once in the same word, and a word needs at least 3 letters.
There are three ways to do it:
- Tap the tiles one by one.
- Drag your finger or mouse from tile to tile.
- Type the word on a computer keyboard: the game finds a valid path in the grid by itself.
The Effacer (clear) button empties the current selection, and Valider (submit) sends it. Submit only lights up from 3 letters.
Which words are accepted?
The game accepts the words in its French dictionary, in all their forms: plurals, feminines and conjugated verbs. Proper nouns, hyphenated words and words with an apostrophe are left out. Accents disappear: ÉTÉ (summer) is spelled E, T, E.
Each word only counts once. A word you already found shows "Déjà trouvé" (already found); a rejected word shows a cross. Mistakes never cost points.
The points table
| Word length | Points |
|---|---|
| 3 letters | 1 |
| 4 letters | 2 |
| 5 letters | 4 |
| 6 letters | 7 |
| 7 letters | 11 |
| 8 letters or more | 15 |
The counter at the top of the screen shows the time left and your points.
When time runs out
After 90 seconds, a "Temps écoulé !" (time's up) message offers two choices: keep exploring without scoring, or see the solution. Points from words found after time is up show separately, with a "+", and don't count towards your score.
Showing the solution ends the game. The recap sorts words into three groups: "Trouvés" (found), "Hors délai" (after time) and "Manqués" (missed). Tap a word to see its path in the grid.
A first game, walked through
For the example, here is a grid cut down to 4 × 4, made up for the occasion:
| Row | Letters |
|---|---|
| 1 | C H A T |
| 2 | O R E S |
| 3 | U L I N |
| 4 | P A M E |
Easy words first. The top row gives CHAT (cat, 2 points), and the S just under the T adds CHATS (4 points). Down the first column: COUP (blow, 2 points).
Stretch them. From the P of COUP, the L sits diagonally, then the E on row two: COUPLE (couple), 7 points. The S next to that E makes COUPLES, 11 points in one go. It is the best-paying word in the grid.
Sweep the bottom. M, A, I, N zigzag across: MAIN (hand, 2 points), then MAINS with the S on row two (4 points).
The tally: seven words, 32 points. And RAT, RATE, RATES, LIN, MINE, LAME and AIME were all still there in this small grid.
How the score works
The final score, out of 1000, depends only on the word points you found within the 90 seconds: each point is worth 20 score points, and 50 word points give the maximum. Words found after time is up don't count.
There are no jokers and no penalty for mistakes, and speed changes nothing: every game lasts the same time. Two stars start at 23 word points, three at 38. If you show the solution without having scored a point, the game counts as lost.
After your first game
Relio gets easier fast with practice: you learn to spot recurring endings and letter clusters. To improve, read our Relio tips. If you like this kind of grid, our pick of games like Boggle has more.