About WordSalvo
A small studio, four design pillars, English/Dutch go-live support, and one opinionated view of what a modern word game should feel like.
Last updated April 25, 2026 · By Kurt Bijl
Who we are
WordSalvo is made by Kurt Bijl at Netkreatives, a small European studio. One builder, one designer, one domain — wordsalvo.com. No venture funding, no growth team, no investors to please. We ship when it is ready and not before.
WordSalvo is built for iOS and Android. The codebase is one Flutter project shared across both platforms, and the game engine under `lib/engine/` is pure Dart with zero Flutter imports — so the same rules that run on your phone can run on our servers for post-game analysis.
Why WordSalvo exists
The big word games got hostile. Scrabble GO runs ads between turns. Words With Friends 2 interrupts submissions with video spots. Both pad their lobbies so you often play matches where the "opponent" is an unlabelled bot. None of them show you what you should have played — the match ends, a score appears, and the learning loop closes.
We wanted the word-game equivalent of the Chess.com post-game review: a running rating, a best-move comparison after every turn, and a Brilliancy Score that tells you what share of the optimal points you captured. That feature does not exist anywhere else in this genre. So we built it.
WordSalvo is also legally distinct from Scrabble and Wordfeud — custom board layout, 104 English tiles, and a 45-point bingo bonus for playing all seven in one turn. Different rules by design, not by accident.
What we believe
Four pillars, and we will not ship a feature that contradicts them.
Comparative play. Online PvP matches are real contests with real opponents. AI opponents exist and are labelled AI. We will never dress a bot in a human name to fill a queue.
Post-game analysis. Covered online and AI games can run through an engine replay that recomputes the best possible play each turn. You get a Brilliancy Score, a turning-point moment, and a move-by-move replay. Instant client-side stats are free; the full engine review is a paid tier.
Low on ads. The free tier carries a lobby banner and at most one interstitial between games. Never mid-game, never before your first completed match. Premium removes them all — and no premium tier ever changes a tile draw, a word ruling, or a score.
Fair play. Online PvP games are scored server-side and can be checked for suspicious play patterns against per-player baselines. Confirmed unfair play is reviewed for action. Paying players and free players compete on identical rules.
How we build
One Flutter codebase, a Dart engine that runs pure (no Flutter imports), and a Firebase backend with 66 Cloud Functions across three codebases — game logic, daily puzzles, and definition lookup. Ratings use Glicko-2, the same system used by chess federations, so the curve behaves predictably and deviations tighten as you play.
The dictionary is the unglamorous part we are proudest of. English draws from wordlists in the SOWPODS lineage; Dutch from the open OpenTaal wordlist. Every wordlist gets compiled into a compact DAWG so validation is O(m) on the letter count, not on the list size.
We keep the studio small on purpose. Fewer meetings, fewer incentives to ship the kind of ad surface that makes shareholders happy and players annoyed.
Contact
Press, partnership, or a word that should be in the dictionary and is not: [email protected]. We read everything. We answer most things within a week.
Use the homepage CTA for current launch links, or contact [email protected] for press, partnership, or dictionary feedback.
Frequently asked questions
- is wordsalvo a company or a solo project?
- A small studio. WordSalvo is built under Netkreatives by Kurt Bijl. One builder, one designer, no outside investors. The codebase is a single Flutter project with a Firebase backend — 66 Cloud Functions across 3 codebases — so a small team can ship a surface this big without compromising on backend work.
- where are you based?
- Europe. The studio (Netkreatives) is European; contact is [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). WordSalvo goes live with English and Dutch dictionaries.
- can I invest in wordsalvo?
- Not today. We are self-funded and not raising. If that changes we will say so here first. Journalists and partners can reach out at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
- how does wordsalvo make money?
- Core play is free, with a lobby banner and at most one interstitial between games — never mid-game. An optional one-time Ad-Free purchase removes ads. An optional Word Master subscription adds post-game engine analysis, unlimited daily-puzzle retries, the full Word Book, and cosmetic themes. No paid option changes gameplay outcomes.
- is wordsalvo public now?
- WordSalvo is built for iOS and Android. Use the homepage or download page CTA for the current store links and launch status.