Connect two four-letter words by changing one letter per step. Daily and practice pairs, a visible word list, undo and shortest-route hints.
Daily puzzles change at midnight UTC. Practice creates a fresh set.
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Enter an accepted four-letter word that changes exactly one letter from your current word.
Keep letter positions fixed. Uppercase and lowercase are accepted; use this game’s visible Accepted words list.
Repeat until you reach the target. Undo removes your last word; Hint adds a word on a shortest route from your current position.
Compare your finished length with the shortest route for that pair. Hints remain counted after undo.
Word Ladder uses our own selection of everyday four-letter English words. Starting pairs have a shortest route of 3–6 changes within this list. Each step changes exactly one letter without rearranging positions. Daily routes and hints resume locally; Practice creates another pair. The visible word list defines acceptance; it is not a complete dictionary.
A completed route saves its number of changes, including hinted words; lower is better. Undo shortens the route and is not a step. The finish message reports hints and this pair’s shortest length. Personal best stores length, not whether it was unaided; pairs have different shortest lengths and are not equal-difficulty comparisons.
More about your scores →COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM changes exactly one position at each step. Every word belongs to this game’s accepted list. Changing COLD directly to CARD would change two letters and is rejected.
A useful intermediate word does not always look closer to the target. Try a different vowel or a common ending to move into another branch of the word graph.
The player shows the shortest route length for your starting pair. Compare your route with that length, and keep the number of hints in mind. Personal bests combine different pairs and include assisted routes.
Change a vowel to open new branches before forcing a target consonant.
A bridge word may temporarily share fewer letters with the target.
A real English word outside our curated list may still be rejected. Check Accepted words.
Results describe this game session. They are not IQ scores, diagnoses or clinical assessments.
No. One position changes per step; the other three letters stay in the same positions.
Open Accepted words for the exact vocabulary used to validate routes and calculate shortest paths.
Every accepted word you reach remains connected back through your route, so a route to the target exists. Undo or a hint can help.
Yes. It adds one valid next word on a shortest route from your current position, and increments hints used.
Yes, if each step changes exactly one letter. A loop makes your route longer; Undo can remove it before you finish.
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