How to Play Word Labyrinth
Change one letter at a time, every step a real word, until the start word has become the target. That is the whole game. The rest of this page is the small print: what counts as a step, how the five daily puzzles are put together, and how scoring, hints and streaks work.
The rules
- You get a start word and a target word. They are often the same length, but not always: the target can be longer.
- A step either changes one letter or adds one letter, anywhere in the word. You cannot rearrange letters and you cannot remove one, so the ladder never gets shorter.
- Every word you enter must be in the game's dictionary.
- Keep going until the chain reaches the target.
- Every puzzle is pre-solved, so the shortest possible chain is known before you start. The closer you get to it, the higher your score.
Three real puzzles
The classic kind, where every word is the same length:
COLD → CORD → WORD → WARD → WARM
Four steps, and four is the minimum for this pair.
Puzzle 2 of the English ladder on 5 October 2026, with an added letter:
POUT → BOUT → ABOUT
Two steps. P becomes B, then an A goes on the front.
And the hard puzzle from 1 October, which mixes the two moves:
HAM → HAT → HEAT → SEAT → SENT → SCENT → ASCENT → ACCENT
Seven steps from a three-letter word to a six-letter one. Three of the steps add a letter (HAT → HEAT, SENT → SCENT, SCENT → ASCENT); the other four swap one. Nobody sees ACCENT from HAM. You see HAT, then HEAT, and the path reveals itself one rung at a time.
If you type something that is not a word, the tiles shake and the reason appears under them for a moment; the letters stay, so you can fix one and try again. Nothing is deducted. A real word that does not fit the rung above it (two letters changed, say) gets the same treatment with a different message.
Game modes
Ranked: the daily ladder
Five puzzles a day, the same five for everyone playing in your language. Two are easy (2 or 3 steps, short common words), two are medium (3 to 5 steps), and the last is hard: up to 7 steps, usually with a longer target and at least one word you would not have thought of. Finishing a puzzle updates your rating. Finish one and your streak ticks for the day; finish all five without skipping and you get a hint for it.
Practice
Unlimited puzzles at a difficulty you pick, from level 1 to 10. Your rating is not touched. We keep a count of practice games finished and your personal bests, and a hint is earned for every two puzzles you complete, same as everywhere else. This is where to warm up, or to learn the rhythm before trying the daily ladder.
Expert
Puzzles with a minimum of 8 steps, and you can raise that minimum further. Expert games count toward your rating, there is no cap on how many you play, and time hardly matters.
Challenge
A weekly set of 10 puzzles (15 in Marathon) with its own leaderboard and a twist that rotates each week: Pure Swap (no adding letters: Carroll's strict same-length rule), Speed Run (time is half your score), Long Words (every word at least 5 letters), Perfectionist (the minimum or nothing) and Marathon.
Scoring
Each puzzle is scored mostly on steps. Hit the minimum and the steps part is full marks; one extra step halves it, two cut it to a third. Time is a tenth of the score and fades gently, so thinking for a minute costs you very little. The stars you see on the board are the short version: three for the minimum, two for one step over, one for anything else.
Your rating rises and falls with your ranked and expert results, through 17 tiers from Bronze III to Grandmaster. You need three games at a tier before you can be promoted out of it, and there is a small buffer before you drop. The leaderboard has today, this week and this month views.
The board also shows how many words are left to enter. Switch that indicator off and finish without it for a 5% bonus.
Hints
A hint shows you the next word on a shortest path from where you are now. If you have wandered off every shortest path, it says so and tells you how many words to remove first. You still type the word yourself, or tap Apply. Each hint costs one from your balance and a quarter of that puzzle's score, more if you had to back up.
Hints come from:
- finishing puzzles: one hint for every two you complete, in any mode, and one more for a full daily ladder with no skip;
- streak milestones at 3, 7, 14, 30, 60, 100 and 365 days;
- watching a short ad, when one is available;
- hint packs in the shop (10 for €0.99, 25 for €1.99, 50 for €2.99). Nothing in the game needs them.
You can also skip one daily puzzle a day. You see the solution, get no stars for it, and forfeit that day's full-ladder hint.
Streaks
Your streak is the number of consecutive days on which you finished at least one daily puzzle. Milestones pay out hints:
| Days | Reward |
|---|---|
| 3 | 1 hint |
| 7 | 3 hints |
| 14 | 5 hints |
| 30 | 10 hints |
| 60 | 15 hints |
| 100 | 25 hints |
| 365 | 50 hints |
Miss one day and a streak freeze, if you have one, is used automatically. Nobody gets freezes for free: one costs 5 hints, or €0.99 in the shop (three for €1.99), and it covers a single day. Miss more than that and the streak is lost, though for a few days you can buy it back at 10 hints per missed day, or €1.99.
Web and mobile
It is the same game everywhere. On a computer you just type: letters go into the next rung, backspace takes the last one away, Enter submits. On a phone the system keyboard comes up. In both, you can build the ladder from either end: enter a word that connects to the target and it slots in at the bottom.
What we would tell a new player
- Count the differences first. COLD and WARM share nothing; LINE and LIST share two letters. Letters already in place usually stay in place.
- Change the vowel when you are stuck. It is the move most likely to open something.
- If the target is longer, work out where the extra letter goes. In POUT → ABOUT it is an A at the front; in HAM → ACCENT there are three to add. Deciding that early saves steps.
- Step back from the target. Two words that lead into the target are often easier to find than two that lead out of the start.
- Take the hint before you take the fourth extra step. One hint costs a quarter of the score; three extra steps cost more than that.
Accessibility
Light and dark themes, a high-contrast option, play by keyboard alone on the web, and screen-reader announcements for every accepted word and the number still to go. The time part of the score is small on purpose.
Ready to start?
Today's daily ladder is waiting. 5 puzzles. Free. No sign-up required to play.
Play Word Labyrinth