The complete player guide
How to play KanjiBlitz
KanjiBlitz is a fast Japanese kanji recognition game. Read a kana pronunciation and its English meanings, find the one matching kanji, and answer before the speed bonus fades. Every correct choice clears or replaces a tile, grows your streak, and moves you deeper into a 512-kanji progression. Words mode switches to English-only clues and a separate bank of multi-character vocabulary such as 日本, 食べる, and 朝ご飯.
The core loop
Learn the rules in one round
- Read the prompt. Kanji modes show kana inside 「brackets」 plus English meanings. Words mode shows only English clues.
- Find the match. Only one visible kanji tile is correct. Tap it on mobile or click it with a mouse.
- Answer quickly. Your speed bonus starts high and falls as the response takes longer.
- Keep the streak alive. Correct answers raise the multiplier. A wrong answer records a miss and resets the streak.
- Advance. Finite modes leave a gap after each answer and open the next level after the board is cleared. Endless modes replace the solved tile in place.
Choose your run
Every KanjiBlitz mode explained
Five kanji modes draw from the same 512-character pool, beginning with familiar concrete kanji and moving through ten increasingly challenging groups. Sprint, Classic, and Master let you complete the entire pool in differently sized levels. Endless modes keep going after every kanji has appeared. Words uses a separate collection of 128 common multi-character vocabulary items, mixing compounds and kanji-plus-hiragana forms across eight levels.
Sprint
Sixty-four compact levels make each board quick to scan while carrying your score and streak through the complete 512-kanji curriculum.
Classic
Thirty-two balanced levels combine meaningful visual search with a comfortable board size. Classic is the best starting point for the complete KanjiBlitz experience.
Master
Twenty-two large levels test recognition across a crowded field. Score and streak carry forward between levels, with eight kanji in the final mastery round.
Endless
Each correct tile is replaced in the same position. Your run level keeps rising, difficulty advances from Starter to Advanced, and play continues for as long as you choose.
Endless 2×2
The same continuous progression in a thumb-friendly 2×2 grid. Large targets and rapid replacement make it especially comfortable on phones and narrow screens.
Words
Match English meanings to multi-character Japanese vocabulary such as 日本, 食べる, and 朝ご飯. The eight levels mix kanji compounds with natural kanji-and-hiragana words, without reading hints.
Score with momentum
Speed bonuses, streaks and multipliers
Every correct answer awards base points plus a speed bonus. Fast recognition earns more, while hesitation gradually reduces the bonus. Your multiplier rises at streak milestones, so accuracy and pace reinforce one another: a quick answer late in a strong streak is worth far more than the same answer at the beginning of a run.
Streak tiers escalate from Spark through Blaze, Surge, Overdrive, and Transcend. The vortex, particles, sound, edge energy, and milestone callouts intensify without resetting the background animation. Misses break the streak but never prevent you from continuing the level.
Hear, remember, improve
Recorded readings and personal kanji stats
Every one of the 512 kanji prompts automatically plays a real human-recorded Japanese pronunciation when it appears. There is no text-to-speech. The audio combines native-speaker recordings from Kanji Alive and Lingua Libre, including short mora-aligned excerpts for readings that are rarely spoken as standalone words. Use the Voice control to turn readings on or off at any time. The audio credits screen documents the sources and licences, while the wider curriculum uses KANJIDIC2 and JMdict language data under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Kanji Stats screen stores attempts, correct answers, accuracy, and average correct response time for each character on your device. Use it to spot kanji that need more practice rather than judging progress from one score alone.
Designed for touch
Playing KanjiBlitz on mobile
KanjiBlitz adapts its controls and spacing for smaller screens. Endless 2×2 gives each kanji a large touch target while preserving the same readings, meanings, speed scoring, rising run levels, and ordered difficulty progression as standard Endless. Keyboard-only fullscreen guidance is hidden on mobile, leaving the interface focused on the next answer.
Useful answers
KanjiBlitz FAQ
Is KanjiBlitz free to play?
Yes. The full web game is free to play in a modern browser, with no account required.
How many Japanese kanji are included?
There are 512 unique kanji, ordered across ten groups from Starter through Master. The first 24 include human-recorded readings, while every kanji includes a reading and English meanings.
Does clearing a tile move the other tiles?
No. Finite modes preserve the empty gap, helping you retain the board’s spatial layout. Endless modes replace the solved tile in exactly the same slot.
Can I leave a run without losing my score summary?
Yes. The Home button asks for confirmation, then shows your score, accuracy, and best streak before returning to the title screen.
What is KanjiGlass?
KanjiGlass is the companion iOS app for quickly looking up Japanese kanji while browsing. You can find it from the visible app button inside KanjiBlitz.