LinkyGrid World Cup

World Cup Links is the LinkyGrid World Cup board, and its instruction is a single sentence displayed under the title: "Draw every link between footballers who played together or against each other." Six player cards (photo, name and country), are scattered on a light area dotted with dashed lines; you connect two cards by pressing one and dragging to the other. To the right, a panel holds the counters: TIMER, LINKS with the total to find, MISSES, HINTS, and a "Found Links" list where validated connections are recorded, each with its explanation. Two tabs, Easy and Hard, change the difficulty above the board, and the help notes that the types of links vary from puzzle to puzzle and are indicated next to the board.

1. Choose the difficulty with the Easy or Hard tabs.
2. Press a card and drag to another to test a connection: a simple click does nothing.
3. Read the explanation that is added to "Found Links" when a link is correct; the line itself stays drawn on the board.
4. Continue until you reach the total shown by the LINKS counter, which marks the end of the day's puzzle.
5. Use Hint or Reset at the top right if the board freezes, bearing in mind that the help warns about their effect on the final result.

Most connection games ask you to sort words; this one asks you to draw a line. The difference is bigger than it seems: with six faces of players from six national teams, the mind searches for match memories rather than categories, and each validated link is justified by a sentence that is recorded in the panel, so you leave with the anecdote and not just the point. Add a timer you can hide, two difficulty levels and an error counter that weighs on the result, and the board plays as well in a quick run as it does methodically.

A correct link leaves two traces: the line remains visible between the two cards, and its explanation is added to the "Found Links" panel, which displays "Found links will appear here." while empty. Three counters frame the play: LINKS for progress, MISSES for failed attempts, HINTS for hints used, and a timer runs above, with an eye-with-slash icon placed next to it. Connecting two cards requires a drag and not a click.

Easy

The tab selected by default above the board.

Hard

The second difficulty tab, beside Easy.

• The gesture is a drag, not a click: press a card and pull to the next one. Clicking an isolated card does not test anything.
• The instruction counts two families of links, teammate and opponent. The latter is the one people tend to forget, and it is often the richer connection between two players from different nations.
• The country under each name is not decorative: it is the first filter to know in which tournament two cards may have crossed paths.
• MISSES is not mere decoration: the help specifies that failed attempts as well as hints can modify the final result.