What are hearts?
How free practice works in Spelly, in a minute: what uses a heart, what never does, and what the $29 unlock changes.
The short version
A round uses one heart. That is the whole rule.
โค๏ธ Starting a round uses 1 heart, whatever the game and however many words are in it
โค๏ธ Wrong answers are free. A child who misses every word pays the same one heart as a child who gets them all right
โค๏ธ Left a round before answering anything? The heart comes straight back
A new free account starts with 8 hearts. The balance is the โค๏ธ number at the top of the app.
Hearts come back on their own. One returns every 2 hours, up to 3. And each new day your child plays, a balance under 3 is topped up to 3. So there is always practice tomorrow, and usually later today.
What never uses a heart
โ
Replaying any list your child has already finished
โ
Review rounds, which bring back the words they missed
โ
The test at the end of each list, and the world tests
โ
The Matching game
โ
Hearing every word read aloud, in every game
โ
Pictures, XP, coins, streaks and the creature collection
โ
A worksheet scan and an AI word list: one of each per day, free
โ
Practising a list someone shared with you, which needs no account at all
What the $29 unlock changes
Unlocking Spelly is a one-time $29 payment. No subscription, ever. It gives:
โค๏ธ Unlimited hearts, so practice never has to stop
๐ธ Unlimited worksheet scans and AI word lists
๐ฃ๏ธ A second voice for every word
๐ A short fact for each word
There is nothing smaller to buy. Hearts are not for sale, with money or with coins. See purchases.
Common questions
What happens when the hearts run out?
Nothing is lost. One heart comes back every 2 hours, and the next day your child plays they start with at least 3. Replaying a list they have already finished, review rounds and the test at the end of a list never use a heart, so there is always something to play. To remove the limit for good, unlock Spelly once for $29: see purchases.
Does a wrong answer cost a heart?
No. A round uses one heart when it starts, and that is all. Your child can get every word wrong and the round still costs one heart.
My child opened a round by mistake. Is the heart gone?
No. Leaving a round before answering anything gives the heart back.
Can we buy more hearts?
No. Hearts are not for sale, with money or with coins. They come back on their own, or you can unlock Spelly once for $29 and hearts become unlimited.
Do hearts pile up if we skip a few days?
No. The daily top-up only lifts a balance that is under 3 back to 3. It never adds to a bigger balance.
My older account doesn't show hearts.
Accounts made before September 2026 can still open the classic Spelly, which uses a different counter instead of hearts, and its balance tops back up to one round every day. Choose Try the new Spelly in the menu to move to the road and hearts. The $29 unlock removes the limit in both.