What is Word Labyrinth?

Word Labyrinth is a free online word ladder puzzle game. You are given a start word and a target word and change one letter at a time (or add one), forming a real English word at every step, until you reach the target. The puzzle type is also known as a word ladder, doublet or change-one-letter puzzle; Lewis Carroll invented it in 1877.

What is a word ladder?

A word ladder is a puzzle in which you turn one word into another by changing a single letter at each step, with every word along the way a real dictionary word. For example: CAT → COT → COG → DOG. Lewis Carroll invented it in 1877 and published it as Doublets in 1879.

Is Word Labyrinth free to play?

Yes. Word Labyrinth is completely free to play on the web, iOS and Android. There are optional in-app purchases for hints and streak freezes, but the daily puzzle and leaderboard are free for everyone.

How is Word Labyrinth different from Wordle?

Wordle is a deduction puzzle: you guess a hidden word from clues. Word Labyrinth is a transformation puzzle: both words are visible from the start, and your task is to find the shortest sequence of single-letter changes that connects them. Word Labyrinth tests vocabulary breadth and pathfinding rather than guesswork.

How is Word Labyrinth different from Weaver?

Weaver is a 4-letter daily word ladder. Word Labyrinth uses words of varying lengths, gives you 5 ranked puzzles per day, includes leaderboards, hints, streaks, and an expert mode with unlimited puzzles.

Can I play Word Labyrinth on mobile?

Yes. Word Labyrinth runs in any modern web browser and is available as a native app on iOS and Android.

Who invented the word ladder puzzle?

Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, invented the word ladder puzzle in 1877 and published it as Doublets in Vanity Fair magazine starting March 1879.

What is the optimal strategy for a word ladder?

Leave the letters that already match the target alone and change the ones that differ. Prefer intermediate words with many one-letter neighbours, since they keep your options open. Changing the vowel is the move most likely to unstick you, and words like CORD or BROOD are common bridges.

Leaderboard | Word Labyrinth

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