Games Talk

How do you go out?  I played Bots and they wanted to go out, but I didn't know how to agree.  I used "chat" but nothing happened.  Thanks.  Loraine

Canasta can seem like an impenetrable game at first, with all its special lingo. But when you dive in further you’ll realize it’s a straightforward – and fun – game. Here are two tips to take your skills to the next level!   Tip 1: Focus on building melds early. Melds are sets of three or more cards of the same rank. The faster you build melds, the quicker you can start forming canastas and scoring big.   Tip 2: Keep track of your opponent’s discards. Observing which cards your opponent discards can give you clues about their strategy and help you block their potential melds.

I win 9 out of 10 games in Backgammon but my scores are so low!   How does one get the score raised?   What are pips?    thanks for any assistance you can provide! 

Mahjongg Dimensions is all about speed — and level completion. To climb the leaderboard, first, you’ll need to get to level 10, as completing it nets you 10,000 bonus points. (You get cumulative bonus points for beating each level: level 9 gets you 9,000 points, level 8 gets you 8,000, and so on).   You’ll also want to take advantage of the speed-match bonus, which rewards you for making a match within two seconds of your last match. Your first speed match will add a 2x multiplier to the score, your next consecutive speed match will add a 3x multiplier, and so on. Chaining together quick matches is a huge source of points!   Lastly, look out for multi-match bonuses, which occur when you make a match with the same symbols as the previous match. The multiplier increases the same way as the speed-match multiplier, so always be sure to search for like symbols!

In Gridland Ultimate, you’re not just matching three tiles… you’re building a settlement. Match rocks, bricks, wood, and more and watch as your stick figure character creates buildings above your grid. Then get ready for nighttime, when the grid flips and you need to match more tiles to fight off hordes of monsters. Use your powerups, keep matching, and build the ultimate gridland!   Have more questions?  Check out our FAQ here!

There is no time limit in Gridland Ultimate, and there isn’t a specific number of tiles that need to be removed to complete a level. Instead, after a certain number of swaps, the level switches from day to night (and vice versa). That means that you shouldn’t necessarily play fast – this is a match 3 game of strategy.   For instance, removing three tiles costs you one swap… but so does removing three tiles that leads to a cascade of other tiles being removed as they drop in. That means planning your moves effectively can lead to bigger advantages.   It works both ways – at night, you might not want a cascade of tiles to occur, as that might summon too many monsters for you to handle. Remember to play carefully, and you’ll be able to build up your settlement and survive the night!

  In Gridland Ultimate, there are three power ups:   Health potions that restore your lost hearts A sword and shield that fill up your extra attack and shield powers A bomb that instantly removes all monsters from the screen   These power ups become available when day turns to night and your stick figure needs to defeat monsters. In the early days, the monsters are easy to defeat. But as time goes on, you will need to strategically use your power ups to contend with monsters with tons of strength or tons of quickness.   Use your power ups often – you’ll get a lot of refills when you defeat monsters – but make sure you use them at the right time. If you can match a sword or a shield, for instance, hold off on using your sword and shield power up. Wait to use bombs until there are many monsters on screen. And use health potions when your health drops below half – they heal a lot of your hearts, so you want to maximize their usefulness.

I've actually broken the record twice, but will that ever be shown on the leaderboard? Heh. That'll be the day. Still waiting for Arkadium to fix that... - SarahD411785, score 88,732,200 on August 3, 2025 

Not Not is a game of quick reactions, where you have to move your character one of four directions: up, down, left, or right, based on a prompt.   What is the goal of the game? The goal of Not Not is to complete levels and unlock more difficult levels, all by getting a certain number of prompts correct without making a mistake.   When do I beat a level?You beat a level when you’ve completed all the prompts without making a mistake. Some levels have 30 prompts, some have 40, and some have even more!   Where do I see my goal and the timer? On the left side of the screen, while playing, you’ll see a timer. Next to it is a number. Every time you match cubes, that many cubes will be removed from the number. Get the number to 0 before the timer runs out to beat the level!   How do I play? To play Not Not, all you need is a mouse, arrow keys on a keyboard, or your finger to swipe (on a tablet or mobile device). When the level begins, you’ll see your stick figure character

This red band is a real pain in the neck.  I have to keep scrolling to get it out of the way and sometimes it sits on top of a game.  I don't know why anyone would have something like this on a web site.  If it is supposed to get our attention, let me assure you the attention is all negative.  Nail the thing down!

I play Outspell everyday, along with other games. Yesterday, I was able to start with the word "BRANDY" for 82 points, but I kept getting the message "Your word should be connected to symbols on the board".  What the heck??? It's the first word of the game!  After multiple tries, I finally just started over. What happened?  This should be fixed, if at all possible.And thank you for all the fun games!!!Lisa

The machines you have to remember take on different positions and configurations in each square. Try assigning a nickname to each machine so that when presented with the machine to match you can remember the nickname to help determine if it matches. For example, use the nickname ‘big orange lower left’ to describe a machine with a big orange button in the lower left portion of the machine. Try Mem Machines today!   For more information, visit AARP® Staying Sharp® and take control of your brain health.

Doesn't happen all the time, just enough to be annoying. However, refreshing the screen fixes it, but I shouldn't have to do that. Anyone else experience this?Browser - Firefox 115.21.0 esr (64-bit)

No scores are being recorded. I can play the game, but no score is returned and it looks like there are no scores at all in the leader board. It's been happening for at least 3 days.

In Garden Bloom, a key to success is finding the special pieces – all of which are garden critters – that allow you to move flowers faster. After all, the fewer moves you use to hit your goals, the more stars you get, and the faster you can fix up Lucy’s garden!   In Garden Bloom, you can access these special critters:   The Bee – Match 4 flowers instead of just 3 and a bee will appear. Match the bee with flowers of the same color to remove the entire line. The Ladybug – Match two lines of 3 flowers at once and a ladybug will appear. Match the ladybug with flowers of the same color and all the nearby flowers will be removed. The Butterfly – Match 5 flowers instead of 3 and a butterfly will appear. Match that with another flower and all those flowers on the board will be removed.   Also, try to find ways to match two of the bugs – you’ll get a big reaction!

No matter what I type, the dictionary moves the second letter to the first. For example. If I type in "Word" it switches it to "Owrd."

The Vamoose ad really bothers my concentration and makes me uninterested in playing the games I love to play for enjoyment.

The rotten meat of this animal is the national dish of Iceland:   a.  Tuna b.  Shark c.  Cod d.  Salmon   Love this trivia - play our Right Again! Trivia game for more enjoyment!

     How do I start again at the beginning level? 

Scores are still not correct, points are not being added. Why so many problems the past few months when there were never these problems before? It's very frustrating for those of us old folks who play every day--and pay every year!

Not Not gets tricky fast – and that’s by design. However, some of the most difficult prompts are introduced early in the game and keep coming back. Here’s a quick cheat sheet, using “up” as an example:   Up: Go up. Not Up: Go anywhere except for up. Not Not Up: Go up. Not Not Not Up: Go anywhere except for up.   This is the same for other directions, as well as colors. Later in the game, you’ll see prompts like “Not Not Blue,” but written in yellow. Don’t get thrown by the colors in the clue – just pay attention to the words!

If you’re told to go left, you can go left. If you’re told to not go left, you might go right. What if you’re told to go not not left… or not not not left? These are the brain-tickling prompts you’ll need to solve – quickly – while playing Not Not, our new game of quick reactions. All you need to do is move up, down, left, or right when presented with a clue. But can you figure out what to do correctly before your time runs out? Try it out!

High scores are possible in Texas Hold'em. I'm sure all the regular players have experienced that there seems to be a limit of 1.5 billion no matter if they score higher. Okay, may be programming limits. But many times I have exceeded the 1.5 billion and I get no score posted, anyone else? All those naysayers out there that those score are not possible....they are!

Word Search is a word-finding game just like the ones you used to play.   What is the goal of the game? The goal of the game is to find all the words on the left-hand side of the screen as fast as possible within the grid of scrambled letters.   How often can I play? Word Search is a daily game.   How many games can I play per day? Every day, Word Search offers three new puzzles in an easy, medium, and hard difficulty level.   What is the difference between easy, medium, and hard modes? As the puzzles get harder, you’ll see bigger grids, longer words, and odder orientations of words.   Can I play more than the daily games? Yes! On the main game select screen, below “Today’s Easy,” “Today’s Medium,” and “Today’s Hard” puzzle, you’ll see options for “Random” versions of each difficulty level. Click on one and watch an ad to get a previous puzzle.   How do I play? When the game begins, you’ll see all the words you need to find on the left-hand side of the scr

In Word Search, simply scanning without a plan can waste time – especially on harder difficulties. Keep these tips in mind to solve the puzzle as fast as possible: Start by looking for uncommon letters, if you have words that include them. If you have a word that starts with Q, for instance, find the Qs in the puzzle and search from there. There won’t be that many, so it should be a quick solve. Split the puzzle into smaller sections, like four quadrants. This will help focus your search. Don’t look for individual words. Look for common patterns of letters. This can help you home in on multiple words faster. Don’t be afraid to reveal a letter. It might cost you 10 seconds, but it will put you on the right path. It’s faster than letting your eyes glaze over for a minute!   If you found this helpful, please give it a Kudo! 👍 Your feedback helps others discover useful information, too.