Word Ladder
WordFree to playChange one letter per step to turn a start word into a goal.
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How to Play
Word Ladder starts you on a short word and asks for one that is a single letter away. Select a tile, type a letter, and the result is checked against the dictionary the moment you type it. A real word that is the next rung climbs one; a real word somewhere else on the word graph makes the game recompute a fresh ladder from where you now stand; a non-word costs one of your five tries. Twelve rungs ends the run.
Controls
- Select — Tap a tile, or use the arrow keys
- Change — Tap a tile, then type one letter into the box under the board
- Step back — Retype the word you came from to drop a rung
- Pause — Escape, because p is a letter you may need to type
Tips & Tricks
- 1Only non-words cost a try. Five of those end the run, but a real word in the wrong place costs neither a try nor a point — it just rebuilds the ladder, so exploring sideways is cheap.
- 2Each length has its own word list — three, four and five letters are separate dictionaries — so a five-letter round never accepts a four-letter word no matter how sensible it looks.
- 3Ten points a rung, and retyping the previous word walks you back down without paying, which makes a wrong turn reversible by hand rather than by button. There is no undo control.
- 4There are six rounds in order: two of three letters, two of four, two of five, with paths of three, four, four, five, four and five steps. Twelve rungs across them finishes the run.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I type a real word that is not on the ladder?
The game searches for a path from your word to the goal. If one exists the ladder is rebuilt from where you stand and the message reads Detour with the number of steps left; if not it reads Dead end and you try another letter. Neither outcome costs a try.
Is the ladder hand-made?
No, and this guide used to claim it was. Each round picks a start word and a goal, then builds the path with a breadth-first search across the word list. That is exactly what lets an unexpected word reroute the ladder — a hand-authored pack could not do it.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. Tap the tile you want to change, then type a letter into the box under the board — one letter at a time, and the word is judged the moment the letter lands. A phone keyboard works for that. Pausing moved to Escape, because the letter p is something this game expects you to type.
Keep exploring
A few more picks to keep the session going.
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Drag through adjacent letters to form words on a seeded board.
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