WordSalvo press kit

Fact sheet

WordSalvo is a cross-platform word game for two to four players on a 15×15 board. It goes live with English and Dutch dictionaries. The English tile bag holds 104 tiles and a full seven-tile play earns a 45-point bingo bonus. The game is legally distinct from Scrabble and Wordfeud: custom board layout, different tile counts, different bingo value.

Built in Flutter from a single codebase for iOS and Android. The backend runs on Firebase with 66 Cloud Functions across three codebases (game, daily, definitions). Ratings use Glicko-2 — the system most chess federations use — across ten named tiers from Novice to Laureate. The domain is wordsalvo.com.

• Developer: Netkreatives (Belgium)
• Founder: Kurt Bijl
• Target platforms: iOS and Android
• Go-live languages: English and Dutch
• Engine: pure Dart, 15×15 board, 104 tiles, 45-point bingo
• Rating system: Glicko-2, ten named tiers
• Business model: free with ads; one-time Ad-Free purchase; Word Master subscription for engine analysis
• Website: https://wordsalvo.com
• Press contact: [email protected]

Founder quote

"Word games went social a decade ago and then stopped improving. We wanted one that treats finished matches like chess games worth reviewing afterwards — with a real rating, real analysis, and no ad breaking your concentration mid-move. WordSalvo is that."

— Kurt Bijl, Founder, WordSalvo. April 2026.

Description

WordSalvo is built around three ideas: comparative play, honest economics, and fair-play checks. Finished online and AI games can be re-scored server-side against an engine that recomputes the best possible move each turn, producing a Brilliancy Score — the share of optimal points the player actually captured. Instant stats (decisive moment, rack penalty, personal records) appear in under a millisecond client-side; the full engine analysis is the core Word Master feature.

Ads are a banner on the lobby and an interstitial between games, capped at roughly one per two-to-three completed games. Never mid-match, never before the first completed game. A one-time Ad-Free purchase removes ads; a Word Master subscription adds engine analysis, unlimited daily-puzzle retries, and cosmetic themes. Nothing that affects whether you win or lose sits behind a paywall.

Fair play focuses on PvP suspicious-pattern checks: online moves are scored server-side, completed PvP games can be compared against per-player baselines, and reports give moderators context. Players can report, block, and mute. Read more on fair play and post-game analysis.

History

WordSalvo started as a personal project in 2025 — a Flutter rewrite of an older hobby word-game client by founder Kurt Bijl, a Belgian independent developer working under Netkreatives. Early builds focused on the engine (pure Dart, DAWG-backed dictionary, custom board layout) before any social features.

The first multiplayer version ran on Firestore in late 2025. Throughout Q1 2026 the project added the analysis pipeline, Glicko-2 ratings with named tiers, the daily puzzle, tournament play, and a released set of premium visual themes. The public iOS and Android apps ship from the same Flutter codebase, keeping platform features aligned.

Features

The surface covers the expected word-game basics plus a few things that are harder to find elsewhere. This is the complete list as of April 2026, not a teaser.

• Local pass-and-play: 2–4 players share one device, fully offline.
• Online multiplayer: Firestore-backed, matchmaking with a ±200 rating-point window.
• AI opponents: easy / medium / hard / expert, via Cloud Function. Always labelled as AI.
• Post-game analysis: Brilliancy Score, optimal moves, turning-point markers, move-by-move replay.
• Daily puzzle: one board challenge per day in the go-live languages.
• Tournaments: structured competitive play.
• Friends and chat: 6-character friend codes, in-game chat with a toxicity filter and preset quick replies.
• Rivalries: automatic rivalry tracking between players who meet often.
• Word Book: records every word you played, with definitions.
• Fair play: PvP suspicious-pattern checks and per-player baseline comparisons.
• Premium themes: six released themes, including Kintsugi, Letterpress, Midnight, Miami Neon, Riviera, and Mosaic.
• Go-live languages: English and Dutch.

Press assets

Logos, app icons, in-app screenshots (iPhone, iPad, Android), and a PDF press kit will live at /press-assets/. Until then, email [email protected] and we will send the current asset pack — typically within one business day.

Please use approved screenshots and marks from the press asset pack. Approved marks are the WordSalvo wordmark and the owl mascot; do not recolour either.

• Logos: wordmark and owl mascot, SVG + PNG at 256 / 512 / 1024 px (on request).
• Screenshots: 6–8 in-app screens covering lobby, board, analysis, daily puzzle (on request).
• App icon: 1024 px PNG, iOS and Android variants (on request).
• Press kit PDF: full fact sheet and quote pack (in preparation).

Press releases

WordSalvo press releases and launch updates will be listed here. Journalists who want advance notice can email [email protected] and ask to be added to the media list.

Contact

All press enquiries, review-build requests, and interview requests go to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). Kurt answers personally, usually within one business day. For faster turnaround on review builds, include your outlet, platform (iOS or Android), and whether you need English or a specific other language.

For background on the product direction, the about page and the FAQ answer most of the questions that arrive before a first briefing.

Frequently asked questions

can i get a review build?

Yes. Email [email protected] with your outlet name and platform. We can provide store links, screenshots, and review guidance. Turnaround is usually one business day.

is there a press kit pdf?

A full press kit is being prepared. Until then, email us and we will send the current asset pack — logos, screenshots, app icon, fact sheet — as a zip within one business day.

what is the embargo policy?

No formal embargo program yet. If you need to coordinate timing around a specific feature, market launch, or review, email [email protected] and we will set something up directly.

can i interview the founder?

Yes. Kurt Bijl handles interviews personally. English, Dutch, or French, remote by video or email. Email [email protected] with your outlet and format and we will book a slot.

where can readers find wordsalvo?

Current launch links and platform status are on wordsalvo.com and on the download page.

can i use the logo or mascot in my article?

Yes, in editorial context. Do not recolour the wordmark or the owl mascot, do not alter proportions, and do not combine either with competitor marks in a way that implies partnership. Approved files are in the press asset pack.