Word Whomp Still Not Loading

abc838059416​ spencer18076​ and to all players experiencing loading issues with Word Whomp 🥕

Thank you for your reply and sharing your device information, this helps very much.

I am using Edge and can play the game without issue, what this points to is a configuration issue with your device, rather than anything wrong with Pogo or your device, something in the setup is blocking the final connection. Computers and Browsers (two different areas we need to check) come with so many options, settings and default settings it can be overwhelming. 

The most likely culprit for the 99% freeze. Ad blockers, script blockers, and security extensions can interfere with Pogo's content loading, and pop-up blockers are especially notorious for preventing game elements from launching correctly. Since we don't know what exactly is preventing the final load, you will need to check and verify a few options. 

In the top right corner of your browser you will find 3 dots, after clicking on it you will see a drop down appear and you can manage extensions, adjust settings, update your browser and many other options here. Don't fret, this is easy 🤓 Like anything else it may be overwhelming at first, but you got this 🎉

Let's start with the easiest fix first, log out of Pogo.

First step - let's look for updates for Edge! This is the easiest and quickest way I have found and surprisingly it requires updating more often than not. 

The bottom arrow is pointing to Help and Feedback, click on it and the select About Microsoft Edge - this will automatically open another window that will check for updates immediately (i have seen Edge update multiple times in one week). Pogo is a browser-based gaming site and how we play games, through our browsers. So, anytime we see something off with Pogo, this should be our first stop. 

This takes about 30 seconds and could be all you need! After Edge restarts, head to Pogo and try Word Whomp HD again.

✅ If the game loads — that was it! 

❌ If the game still freezes at 99% — no problem, let's move to Step 2.

Step 2: Check for Windows Updates

While we're updating things, let's make sure Windows itself is current. Outdated Windows versions can have older network and security components that affect how HTML5 games load and run.

Click the Start button (the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of your screen), then click the gear icon to open Settings. From there, click Windows Update. Click Check for updates, if updates are found, install them and restart your computer when prompted. After restarting, open Edge and try Word Whomp HD again.

✅ If the game loads — excellent! Those updates did the trick.

❌ If the game still freezes at 99% — let's keep going! Move on to Step 3.

Step 3: Check Your Extensions

From that drop down menu (the 3 dots), hover over Extensions and click Manage extensions. You will see a list of all the extensions installed in your browser. What we want to do is toggle them ALL off. Look for the blue toggle switch next to each one and click it so it turns grey (off).

Extensions we are looking for especially are ad blockers such as Adblock Plus, uBlock Origin, Ghostery, Privacy Badger, or anything similar. These are the most common reason for that 99% freeze — they can block the game scripts Pogo needs to finish loading.

Once you have toggled them all off, close Edge completely (not just the tab, the whole browser). Reopen Edge, go back to Pogo, and try Word Whomp HD again.

✅ If the game loads, great! One of those extensions was the culprit. You can now go back and turn them on one at a time, testing the game after each one, to find out which one was causing the problem. Once you find it, you can either leave it off when playing Pogo or look in that extension's settings for an option to whitelist/allow pogo.com.

❌ If the game still won't load — no worries, Move on to Step 4.

Step 4: Try an InPrivate Window

This is a quick and easy test. Press Ctrl + Shift + N on your keyboard (hold Ctrl and Shift, then tap N). This will open a special InPrivate window — it disables all your extensions and doesn't use any saved data. Think of it as a clean slate.

In that InPrivate window, go to pogo.com, sign in, and try loading Word Whomp HD.

✅ If it loads in InPrivate — this tells us the issue is definitely something in your browser's saved data or settings. Continue to Step 5.

❌ If it still won't load in InPrivate — the issue may be outside your browser (antivirus, firewall, etc.). 

Step 5: Clear Your Browsing Data

Go back to those 3 dots in the top right corner, and this time click Delete browsing data (you can also press Ctrl + Shift + Delete on your keyboard).

A window will pop up. Make sure these two are checked:

• Cached images and files
• Cookies and other site data
• Set the Time range to All time, then click Clear now.

 

⚠️ A quick heads up: Clearing cookies will sign you out of websites, so you need to log back into Pogo and other sites you use (make sure you have passwords written down to log in again). Don't worry, you're just clearing the temporary files stored on your computer.

After clearing, close Edge, reopen it, and try Word Whomp HD again.

Step 6: Check Your Tracking Prevention Setting

This one is important! Edge has a built-in feature that blocks certain website trackers, and I've found evidence that it actively blocks some of the scripts Pogo uses. If this is set too high, it can prevent the game from finishing that last bit of loading.

Click those 3 dots again and go to Settings. On the left side, click Privacy, search, and services. Near the top you will see Tracking prevention with three options:

• Basic
• Balanced
• Strict

 

If yours is set to Strict, change it to Balanced. The Strict setting blocks third-party scripts that Pogo games rely on to finish loading — and that could very well be your missing 1%!

If you'd prefer to keep Strict mode on for other websites, you can add an exception just for Pogo. Under the Tracking prevention section, click Exceptions, and add pogo.com to the list.

Step 7: Turn Off the Pop-up Blocker for Pogo

Edge has a built-in pop-up blocker that can sometimes prevent game elements from loading properly. We don't need to turn it off entirely — we can just allow it for Pogo.

Go to Settings (the 3 dots → Settings), then click Cookies and site permissions on the left side. Scroll down and click Pop-ups and redirects. You'll see an option to add sites that are allowed. Click Add next to the Allow section and type in pogo.com.

This let's Pogo load everything it needs while keeping the pop-up blocker active for all other websites.

Step 8: Toggle Hardware Acceleration

Hardware acceleration is a feature that lets your browser use your computer's graphics card (GPU) to help display content. Most of the time this is a good thing, but sometimes it can cause conflicts with HTML5 games — especially if your graphics drivers are older.

Go to Settings (the 3 dots → Settings), then click System and performance on the left side. You'll see a toggle that says Use hardware acceleration when available.

If it's ON, try turning it OFF

If it's OFF, try turning it ON

After toggling it, Edge will ask you to restart the browser. Do that, then try Word Whomp HD again. We're essentially testing whether your graphics is helping or hurting the game's loading process.

Step 9: Check Your Antivirus Software

Sometimes it's not the browser at all — it's your antivirus or security software being a little too protective. Programs like Norton, McAfee, ESET, Bitdefender, and AVG have been known to block Pogo game files, mistaking them for threats.

If you use any of these programs, try adding these websites to your antivirus whitelist or exceptions list: pogo.com If you're not sure how to do that, a quick search for "how to whitelist a website in [your antivirus name]" can walk you through it.

A key thing to know with "modern browsers and devices" today.

Devices and browsers are constantly working in the background to keep things secure, fast, and up to date. This includes updating, patching, optimizing, syncing, and managing system resources. Some updates notify us, while others install quietly behind the scenes.

These changes can absolutely affect how a single game loads, connects, or performs. This is why troubleshooting our devices and performing system checks can be incredibly helpful — not only for Pogo, but for the overall performance and security of our devices.

This isn't anything you did wrong or Pogo, our devices nowadays require a bit more upkeep and can be sensitive to setup and configuration.

Please take your time, you may need only one or two of the troubleshooting steps - all the steps given are all the possible options/causes.

If you have any further questions or need any further help, please do not hesitate to reach out again. Together with other players and our EA Community Managers, will be happy to offer you more support.