Word Ladder

Works fully offline Games

Change one letter at a time to climb from the start word to the target. Every step has to be a real word. Can you match the shortest possible ladder?

Moves0
Par0
Played0
Streak0

    Change one letter at a time.

    How to Play

    1. You start with a four-letter word and need to reach the target word shown at the bottom.
    2. Type a word that changes exactly one letter of your last word, then press Add.
    3. Every step must be a real English word. You can't reuse a word that's already on your ladder.
    4. Reach the target in the par number of moves for gold, one more for silver, or more for bronze.
    5. Stuck? Undo removes your last step, and Hint adds the next step of a shortest ladder.

    Tips & Strategy

    • Look at which letters already match the target, and try not to change those.
    • Vowels are the hardest letters to swap. Plan the step where a vowel changes first.
    • Sometimes you need to move away from the target for one step to open up a better route.
    • Common short words like CARE, CORE, BARE and BORE make useful stepping stones.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    The game searches every possible route through its word list and sets par to the fewest moves that can reach the target. Gold means you found one of the shortest ladders.

    About 2,500 four-letter English words, with both British and American spellings. Start and target words are always common everyday words.

    At midnight in your own time zone. Everyone gets the same start and target words on the same date.

    Your medal is based only on the number of moves, but the share text shows how many hints you used.

    Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, popularised them in 1877 under the name Doublets.

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