Word Ladder — Wordle English
Turn one word into another one letter at a time, every rung a real word. A new ladder daily in 52 languages. Free, no app, no sign-up.
How to Play Word Ladder
Word Ladder is Lewis Carroll's Doublets, one puzzle a day. You are given two words of the same length and you get from one to the other by changing a single letter at a time, with every word along the way a real word of the language. Par — the shortest ladder that exists — is shown as a score, not a requirement: any legal chain wins, and you have par plus four steps to find one. Undo lifts a wrong rung back off the board but does not refund the step. A new ladder every day in each of 52 languages, drawn from that language's own word list rather than translated from English, with the full solution verified before the puzzle ships.
How Word Ladder works
Two words, one letter at a time, every step a real word.
From cold to warm in 4 steps.
The start word sits at the top of the board and the goal word is pinned underneath it. Type a word that differs from the rung above by exactly one letter and it joins the ladder; keep going until you reach the goal. The letters never move position and the word never changes length — the only move in the game is swapping one tile for another.
The rules, unchanged since 1877
- Every rung has the same number of letters as the start word. Nothing is ever added or removed.
- Exactly one position changes per step, and the other letters stay where they are. Rearranging them is a different game.
- Every rung has to be a real word in the language you are playing. Proper nouns are out, as they have been since Lewis Carroll set the rules.
- A word already on the board is refused, and costs you nothing. Revisiting a rung can never shorten a ladder.
Par is a score, not a gate. Every puzzle ships with the length of its shortest possible ladder — that is par. You do not have to find it: any legal chain that reaches the goal wins the day, and the endgame shows your route beside the shortest one so you can see where they parted. What you do have is a budget of par plus four. Run past it and the day is lost.
Undo takes the rung back, not the step. A wrong turn is not a dead end: undo lifts the top rung off the board so you can try another route. It does not refund the step, though, because a free undo is just a search algorithm with extra clicks.
A new ladder every day in each of 52 languages — built from that language's own word list, with the whole solution verified before the puzzle ever ships.
Tips & Strategy
Nothing says you have to think forwards. Ask what could come immediately before the goal word — usually only a handful of words can — and you have turned one long search into two short ones that meet in the middle.
Consonant frames are stubborn and vowels are cheap. A swap in a vowel slot almost always lands on another real word, which makes vowel positions the reliable way to travel while you work out which consonant has to give.
Compare the start and the goal position by position. The number of differences is the absolute floor on par — a ladder can never be shorter than that — and it tells you immediately which tiles are already where they need to be.
Par plus four exists because the direct route is often blocked. Changing a letter that already matches the goal, to get somewhere the next step needs, is frequently the only way through and costs you one step out of four.
The step is gone either way, so there is no hurry to take a rung back the moment it looks unpromising. Push one more word out of it first — a rung that looked like a detour is often the pivot the rest of the ladder hangs on.
More Game Modes
One word per day. 6 guesses. The classic.
2 boards, 1 keyboard, 7 guesses.
4 boards, 1 keyboard, 9 guesses.
8 boards, 1 keyboard, 13 guesses.
16 boards, 1 keyboard, 21 guesses.
32 boards, 1 keyboard, 37 guesses.
Race the clock. Solve as many words as you can before time runs out.
Navigate meaning space. 30 guesses.
Find the mystery country. 6 guesses on a paper globe.
Guess the daily math equation in 6 tries.
Find every word hidden in seven letters. New puzzle daily.
Swap the 21 tiles so every row and column spells a word. 15 swaps, par 10.
Trace hidden theme words on a 6×8 grid. New puzzle daily.
Trace adjacent letters to find every word in the grid.
Crown each region — one queen per row, column, and colored area.
A chess puzzle a day. Drag your moves, submit when ready, learn from the colours.
Lay every domino so each outlined region satisfies its rule.
Fill a 6x6 grid with suns and moons — balanced lines, never three in a row.
Draw one line through every cell — numbers in order, walls in the way.
Split the 6x6 grid into rectangles — one clue in each, matching its shape and size.
Name the country from its flag. 6 guesses, one tile at a time.
Fill a 6x6 grid so every row, column and 2x3 box holds 1 to 6 once.
Trace four hidden words through a 5x5 grid
Name the country from its shape alone. 6 guesses.
Name the countries that link two places by land.
Spell your way around the box and use all twelve letters.
The day’s letters, jumbled. Put the word back together in six tries.
Sixteen words, four hidden groups. Find what connects them.
A five by five crossword in your own language, every day.
Read the clues, rule out the impossible, find the only grid that fits.
Play in 90+ Languages
Every language is free. No account needed.
Why Wordle Global
From Arabic to Yoruba. The largest multilingual Wordle.
Learn the meaning of every word after you play. Expand your vocabulary.
Every word comes with a custom illustration. Collect them all.
Light, dark, and high-contrast modes for comfortable play.
PWA — install on any device. Works offline. No download needed.
No account required. No paywall. Just play.