Getting started
Is Boardsmith free, and do I need an account?
Boardsmith is free to play, with no ads. You do not need an account to play the daily puzzles. An optional free account saves verified completions, your daily streak and stats across devices.
When do new daily puzzles arrive?
New Boardsmith puzzles are scheduled to be published at midnight UTC every day. The puzzle date uses UTC rather than your local time zone. Everyone gets the same puzzle for the same game, date and difficulty.
Saved progress
Can I leave a puzzle and resume later?
Your board and elapsed time are saved in the browser when browser storage is available. Return using the same browser and device to resume. Clearing site data or ending a private browsing session can remove local progress. An account saves completed puzzles, not unfinished boards, across devices.
What happens to my guest progress when I sign in?
When you sign in or create an account in the browser where you played, Boardsmith checks for any saved completions in your browser and imports them into your account. Unfinished boards stay in your browser.
Can I finish yesterday’s puzzle?
If you still have yesterday’s board open, you can finish it until the end of today in UTC. The completion counts for the board’s puzzle date, not the date you submit it. Opening the game page loads today’s puzzle; there is currently no public archive picker.
Timers
When does the timer run?
The timer starts when you choose Start or Resume, or continue to the next difficulty from your result. It runs on the active unfinished board, including while you read help or use Undo and Reset. Reloading or leaving the page pauses play; returning shows Resume rather than starting the clock automatically.
Can I hide the timer?
Yes. Turn Timer off in Settings to hide the live clock. This does not stop timing: your finished time is still recorded and shown with the result.
Daily streak and achievements
What counts towards my daily streak?
Complete any daily puzzle to bank its UTC puzzle date. You do not have to finish a whole game, every difficulty or every game. An unplayed today does not end a streak that still runs through yesterday.
How does a game’s play streak work?
A play streak counts consecutive UTC puzzle dates with at least one completed puzzle in that game. Any difficulty counts; you do not need the whole core set. As with your daily streak, an unplayed today does not break a run through yesterday.
What do the completion totals count?
A game day is complete when you finish its core set: Easy, Medium and Hard, or the single Daily puzzle. Expert puzzles completed counts each Expert puzzle independently of the core set. All games completed counts dates when every game released by that date has its core set complete; Expert is not required. These completion totals are cumulative, not streaks that can be lost.