Game Play Basics and Tips

The following page contains a collection of advantageous tips, worthwhile advice from veteran players, and informative guidance on how to play the game Text Express: A Word Adventure.

For a list of confirmed words used to solve difficult puzzles, click here for answers.

Do you need extra help for a question not answered on this page? Interact here, for a comprehensive source of official game play information.

## Gameplay Basics:

Solving crossword puzzles advances Tilly’s story and completes minigames. The solutions are found by pressing and holding a letter and swiping to other letters to spell valid words. Releasing the chain by lifting the finger off the screen completes one word. Words can be up to seven letters long.

A valid word must be at least 3 letters long. Word that are one or two letters long when released do not count as a mistake, but are not counted as bonus words nor solutions, either.

Additionally, some English words when entered will give an “invalid” notice, where no reward nor penalty is given, for some lewd words that cannot be discussed in polite company. This was primarily due to player requests, as noted in the October 2022 Update News post in the "Foul Word Handling" section.

The game accepts both the Northern American and United Kingdom spellings of words. For example: labour/labor, cheque/check, metre/meter, tonne/ton, sulphur/sulfur ...etc. Either spelling may appear as a puzzle solution, however, more often than not it is the Northern American spelling.

Although the game is in English, some limited non-English words are accepted as puzzle solutions, such as “Anime, Manga, Miso, Ramen, Sumo, Udon, Yen, Grande, Peso, Tacos, and Euro.” However, names are not accepted. Some month names are accepted, besides "June."

Players are not punished for taking their time, nor for incorrect words, nor mistakes, aside from losing a streak. You cannot fail a puzzle. However, players can earn more coins or more tracks to travel faster by not making mistakes and only lifting the finger off the screen when a valid word is completed that is not a duplicate for that puzzle.

Additionally, you may lift your finger off the screen if only one or two letters are selected to deselect the letters at no penalty.

It takes 3 valid words in a row to activate Green Combo, which doubles the score of puzzle solution words.

It takes 3 more (6 total) valid words in a row to activate Rainbow Combo, which triples the score of puzzle solution words.

If you quit and save a puzzle after making a mistake, when reopening the same puzzle, one cannot use an undo hint to prevent losing a perfect status on that particular previously made mistake.

The in app currency are coins and diamonds. Diamonds should not be confused for gems, which are used to determine how many train tracks are earned from solving a puzzle in order to move the locomotive.

In app currency, in the form of coins gained from correct words, can be used to upgrade letters, which will cause words spelled with those letters to give more coins and more track distance. This can be done in any order chosen by the player and at anytime. See the Tips section below for recommended strategies. The currency can also be traded optionally to reveal specific letters and for hints and other forms of assistance with the puzzle.

Closing the app before completing a puzzle does not cause the puzzle to fail.

In order to save your progress in a puzzle, tap the top right corner and choose "Save and Quit Level." When the app is reopened, the puzzle progress is saved and resumed.

A player may check the Dictionary on the home screen after a puzzle is completed, however the Dictionary resets when a new puzzle begins.

No matter which destination a player chooses to travel to, the puzzles are given in a specific, predetermined order.

Tapping on the Tilly level in the top left corner will show the future level up rewards that can be unlocked.

A Player may choose to visit an area of the map even if there are no activities to do there.

The Profile Icon that the Player chooses will change the icon on the map which represents the Player's current location. A flag on the map indicates the location the Player has chosen to travel towards.

When traveling, the Player may choose to swipe their finger along the screen following the track to look around the scenery at their own pace, however this does not move the train. There is a day and night cycle that reflects the lighting during travel.

If the player completes the puzzle perfectly, then some random letters will turn gold and award additional coins. If the player makes any mistakes then the letters will coloured based on their level and not give bonus coins upon completion. However, regardless of the combo streak, any extra miles that are left when the metre is full will be converted into some extra coins.

Once a puzzle has been started, a new puzzle cannot begin until the current puzzle is solved, unless the player selects "Quit Level."

If a Player has completed all of the pages for a Souvenir collection, then they will automatically be given the completion reward for any event task or challenge that requires playing the associated minigame of the completed set.

For information regarding Letter Upgrades & Letter Powers, please interact here.

## Tips and Tricks:

For level answers, visit Unexpected Words.

There are several accessibility features in the settings, located in the top right corner, including dyslectic friendly fonts, calm mode (disables some special effects), dark mode, confirm spending (on by default), slow text speed, disable auto open to-do list popup, and hold hints to activate (to avoid accidentally tapping).

You may use the dictionary feature (top right corner) to see which words you already made, if you might have forgotten.

* **Important to note:** The dictionary refreshes every puzzle. It is safe to use a word that you already used in a previous puzzle when you begin a new one. You will not lose your perfect streak, so long as you do not enter the same word more than once in the current puzzle.

Players who make a mistake can keep their perfect score by tracing backwards the way they arrived to “undo” an invalid word before lifting their finger off the screen.

Pressing and holding anywhere on the screen while travelling will speed up the animation. This can be done during normal travel and fast travel [A feature unlocked at Tilly level 21 which a player may optionally trade coins to bypass completing puzzles when moving to new locations].

The most used letters in the English language are, “D, E, H, L, N, R, S, T, and W.” So it may be advantageous to upgrade these letters first. Of these letters, the most used is E and T.

The least used letters in the English language are, “B, G, J, K, Q, V, X, Y, and Z.” So it may be advantageous to upgrade these letters last. Of these letters, the least used are Q and Z.

The remaining letters, “A, C, F, I, M, O, P, and U” may be upgraded at the player's discretion. Of these letters, the most used is A.

It may be difficult to track which letters get used the most frequently in the game, as many rewards give experience points to rarely used letters randomly. This is likely well meaning, to the benefit of the player, allowing the player to level up rarely used words faster.

The game does accept some abbreviations, or shortened forms of longer words. For a list of known abbreviations, see Unexpected Words.

The game also accepts some acronyms, such as "AWOL," "DNA," “ETA,” “SOS,” and "UFO."

"Earl," "Eel," “Ere,” "Duo," "Inn," "Iron," "Mort," "Nerd," "Red," "Rose," and "Sue" are frequent solutions in multiple puzzles. Try one of those if you get stuck and have the necessary letters.

Being a fantasy game, some words related to mythological creatures are accepted as puzzle solutions and bonus words, such as "Devil," "Drow," "Elf," "Elves," "Goblin," "Lich," "Mage," "Ogre," "Orc(s)," "Phoenix," "Roc," "Sprite," and "Yeti".

Oftentimes the letters when combined all together will be a word relating to the current activity in the background.

In some minigames, such as Tilly's Dreams, not every letter needs to be used in some puzzles to create the single word that is represented by the empty squares. Sometimes, a single letter is omitted. However, more often than not, each letter is used.

If you are still stuck on a puzzle and seemed to have tried every word that you know, try a word from the "Uncommon Words" list, choosing a word that you have the letters to make.

Making bonus words in puzzles that only require one word to complete will not impact the “perfect” score of these games. For example, the “Campfire Tales” minigames.

In the "Watching Stars on Eleanor's Tower" minigame, it is safe to draw a line through letters you already chose without a penalty, as they will not be chosen a second time. However, this will undo the action if you retrace the last letter you chose, so try to choose a different one. This can help you avoid connecting the wrong letter depending on the placement of the stars arrangement at that time. Please note that drawing a line through another line, but not touching any letter, does not select nor deselect any letters.

If you are attempting to make many bonus words or activate a rainbow combo, these words can be made in multiple puzzles: If the letters A, E and R are present: “Era”/“Ear”/“Are;” if the letters A, E and T are present: “Ate”/“Eat”/“Tea;” and if the letters A, R, and T are present: "Art"/"Rat"/"Tar." You can also make "Live"/"Evil"/"Vile." The following combination also appears surprisingly often: "Least"/"Slate"/Stale"/"Steal."

All in game cutscene movies can be watched again by using the "Journal" tab. Only movies that have already been seen by the Player can be watched again. It is free to watch movies again and the times they can be watched is unlimited. Changing eligible character's outfits and changing the locomotive and wagon aesthetics in the "Personalize" tab will change what outfit the eligible characters wear and what the locomotive looks like during the minigames and during the cutscenes as well.

**Important to note:** Only the first 20 (twenty) friends that are added will ever count for friend rewards. This fact remains true even if the player deletes any of the first 20 friends; Those slots cannot ever be recovered. As a result, inactive friends can potentially cause the player to indefinitely be incapable of progressing the friend rewards. This has been confirmed by Game House support.

The cost of using diamonds to skip cool down timers is approximately 1 diamond per half hour. One benefit of skipping cool down time is that the minigame recharges to its max number of tries, rather than just 1 try at a time if the player waits for the timer to stop. [For instance, if the player waits for the cool down timer on Tilly's dreams, then 1 try will be available, but if the player skips the cool down with diamonds then the player is instantly given 2 tries.]

* This is most cost effective when there is less than an hour left and the cost is 1 diamond, since the same number of tries are recharged no matter how many diamonds are spent, and additional tries are not given for spending more diamonds than 1.
* Some minigames are an exception, such as Spotting Animals, as the maximum number of tries is given when the timer stops without the need to spend diamonds.

Tilly Wallet EXP, also known as Tilly Tokens, regenerates at a rate of approximately 5 points per minute (60 seconds).

Version v30.0.0(302) added a new feature called the "VIP Chest." After a player reaches the current maximum level, that player can continue to earn experience and invest the points into the chest. When the player collects enough experience points, then the chest will open and reward the player with a prize. The maximum level is subject to change, as the level is raised with each main story update.

It is possible to upgrade your "Tilly Wallet" for experience points three times before reaching Tilly level 30 by using only free diamonds gifted through following the storyline, so long as you save them and do not use them for other features. Of course, this can be achieved sooner with in game purchases of diamonds.

It is possible to upgrade your "Tilly Wallet" for experience points four times before reaching Tilly level 47 by using only free diamonds gifted through following the storyline, so long as you save them and do not use them for other features. Of course, this can be achieved sooner with in game purchases of diamonds.

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