Resume an Interrupted Game
Sam plays Big Bad Words during his commute. When the app closes unexpectedly — a phone call, a forced restart, or the OS killing the app — his game is automatically saved. Here's how to pick it back up.
How Auto-Save Works
Big Bad Words saves your game state after every confirmed move. If the app is closed for any reason — background kill, device restart, or manual close — your board, tiles, scores, and the tile bag are all preserved exactly as they were.
No action needed to trigger a save. It happens automatically.
Resuming Your Game
- Open the app.
- On the Play tab, look for an In Progress card near the top. It shows the game's current scores and how many turns have been played.
- Tap Resume — your board reappears exactly as you left it, including your current tile hand and the AI's position.
What's Preserved
| Element | Saved |
|---|---|
| Board state (all placed tiles) | Yes |
| Your tile hand | Yes |
| AI's tile hand | Yes |
| Scores for all players | Yes |
| Tiles remaining in bag | Yes |
| Turn order | Yes |
| Game configuration (board size, rules) | Yes |
Starting Fresh Instead
If you'd rather abandon the interrupted game and start new, tap New Game on the Play tab. You'll be asked to confirm — tapping Discard removes the in-progress game and frees the Play tab for a new one.
Online Multiplayer Games
For online multiplayer (Plus/Pro), game state is stored server-side. You can resume from any device — open the app, go to the Play tab, and your game appears in the In Progress list with the latest board state synced from the server.
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