diff --git a/e2e/fixtures.ts b/e2e/fixtures.ts
index a09071c..be4f954 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures.ts
+++ b/e2e/fixtures.ts
@@ -4,12 +4,24 @@ import { FoundWordsPanel } from './pages/FoundWordsPanel'
 import { FourtileStarsPanel } from './pages/FourtileStarsPanel'
 
 interface Fixtures {
+  freshGame: Record<string, never>
   board: GameBoardPage
   foundWordsPanel: FoundWordsPanel
   stars: FourtileStarsPanel
 }
 
 export const test = base.extend<Fixtures>({
+  freshGame: [
+    async ({ page }, use) => {
+      await page.goto('/')
+      await page.evaluate(() => {
+        localStorage.clear()
+      })
+      await page.reload()
+      await use({})
+    },
+    { auto: true },
+  ],
   board: async ({ page }, use) => {
     await use(new GameBoardPage(page))
   },
diff --git a/e2e/game-helpers.ts b/e2e/game-helpers.ts
index 4af9f30..f1dac99 100644
--- a/e2e/game-helpers.ts
+++ b/e2e/game-helpers.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import type { Page } from '@playwright/test'
+import { expect, type Page } from '@playwright/test'
 import { difference, sample, without } from 'lodash-es'
+import type { GameBoardPage } from './pages/GameBoardPage'
 
 async function getDataAttr(page: Page, attr: string): Promise<string[]> {
   const value = await page.getByTestId('game-board').getAttribute(attr)
@@ -97,3 +98,36 @@ export async function tilesForWordFromPage(page: Page, word: string): Promise<st
   if (!result) throw new Error(`Could not form word "${word}" from tiles: [${tileList.join(', ')}]`)
   return result
 }
+
+interface PlayWordOptions {
+  /** Timeout in ms for the current-word-cleared synchronization after submitting. */
+  clearTimeout?: number
+}
+
+/**
+ * Plays a single word: resolves it to a tile sequence from the current board, taps those tiles,
+ * and submits, then waits for the current-word display to clear before returning.
+ */
+export async function playWord(
+  page: Page,
+  board: GameBoardPage,
+  word: string,
+  options: PlayWordOptions = {},
+): Promise<void> {
+  const wordTiles = await tilesForWordFromPage(page, word)
+  await board.clickTiles(wordTiles)
+  await board.clickAdd()
+  await expect(board.getCurrentWord()).toHaveText('', { timeout: options.clearTimeout })
+}
+
+/** Plays every word in order, waiting for the board to settle between each. */
+export async function playWords(
+  page: Page,
+  board: GameBoardPage,
+  wordList: string[],
+  options: PlayWordOptions = {},
+): Promise<void> {
+  for (const word of wordList) {
+    await playWord(page, board, word, options)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/e2e/gameplay.spec.ts b/e2e/gameplay.spec.ts
index 85f530f..2063e35 100644
--- a/e2e/gameplay.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/gameplay.spec.ts
@@ -6,18 +6,13 @@ import {
   fourtiles,
   tiles,
   words,
-  tilesForWordFromPage,
+  playWords,
 } from './game-helpers'
 
 test.describe('Gameplay', () => {
   let wordsRemaining: number
 
-  test.beforeEach(async ({ page, foundWordsPanel }) => {
-    await page.goto('/')
-    await page.evaluate(() => {
-      localStorage.clear()
-    })
-    await page.reload()
+  test.beforeEach(async ({ foundWordsPanel }) => {
     wordsRemaining = parseInt(await foundWordsPanel.getWordsRemaining().innerText(), 10)
   })
 
@@ -114,12 +109,7 @@ test.describe('Gameplay', () => {
 
     test.beforeEach(async ({ page, board }) => {
       fourtileWords = await fourtiles(page)
-      for (const fourtile of fourtileWords) {
-        const tiles = await tilesForWordFromPage(page, fourtile)
-        await board.clickTiles(tiles)
-        await board.clickAdd()
-        await expect(board.getCurrentWord()).toHaveText('')
-      }
+      await playWords(page, board, fourtileWords)
     })
 
     test('pops confetti', async ({ page }) => {
@@ -151,13 +141,7 @@ test.describe('Gameplay', () => {
     test.setTimeout(120_000)
 
     test.beforeEach(async ({ page, board }) => {
-      const allWords = await words(page)
-      for (const word of allWords) {
-        const wordTiles = await tilesForWordFromPage(page, word)
-        await board.clickTiles(wordTiles)
-        await board.clickAdd()
-        await expect(board.getCurrentWord()).toHaveText('', { timeout: 10_000 })
-      }
+      await playWords(page, board, await words(page), { clearTimeout: 10_000 })
     })
 
     test('pops confetti and unicorns', async ({ page }) => {