One line, no ambiguity
Glossary of game terms.
The exact vocabulary NoCharge uses in guides and articles, defined in one sentence each and linked to the game that uses it. Terms are added as new titles ship.
Reviewed
- Exact cover (Beacon Lattice)
A placement problem where every cell must be covered exactly once: every cell belongs to exactly one chosen shape, with no overlaps and no gaps. Beacon Lattice presents this as a quiet lattice puzzle; the article “How exact coverage works in Beacon Lattice” explains the constraint in detail.
- Solitaire: foundation
The four piles where finished suits are built, usually from Ace upward. In NoCharge Klondike and FreeCell, a card may move to a foundation only when it is the next rank of its suit.
- Solitaire: tableau
The main play area: columns of face-up and face-down cards where you sequence cards in alternating colors and descending ranks. FreeCell’s tableau is fully face-up, so planning replaces guessing.
- Solitaire: stock
The draw pile of cards not yet in play. Klondike draws one or three (a documented preference); when the stock is empty the discard becomes the new stock in NoCharge’s draw loop.
- Solitaire: waste
The face-up pile of cards drawn from the stock and not yet played. In Klondike the top card of the waste is the only card available from it.
- Nonogram runs
The clue numbers for a row or column: each number is the length of one filled run, in order, with at least one empty cell between runs. 2 1 means a two-cell run, a gap, then a one-cell run.
- Reduced pressure mode
A mode that removes a performance timer or countdown without changing the core rules. Color Flip’s turn-based mode is the example: the same color-step board, no moving-canvas timer. Guides label the mode instead of claiming it is “easier”.
- Handoff screen
The shared NoCharge component that passes the device from one Pass & Play player to the next, hiding hidden information and showing only whose turn it is. See the handoff screen explainer.
- Game Mode (viewport)
A shared shell state that fills the viewport with the game and collapses the toolbar into an icon bar. Fullscreen when the browser allows it; an immersive fallback otherwise. See the Game Mode explainer.
- Date-seeded daily
A puzzle chosen by the device-local date (YYYY-MM-DD), so the whole day shares one layout. The streak is stored only in this browser; practice mode is always available and never touches it. See the daily hub.
Why terms matter
Same word, same meaning.
Guides, articles, collections, and tools share this vocabulary. If a term here ever disagrees with a guide, the guide and this glossary are both wrong and the catalog review should catch it.