How to play Word Ladder
Word Ladder gives you a start word and a goal word of the same length. You change one letter at a time, and every step along the way must be a real word, until you reach the goal. There is no clock, wrong tries cost nothing, and a hint is always there if you need one.
Step by step
Read the two words
At the top is your start word, such as COLD. At the bottom is the goal word, such as WARM. Both have the same number of letters.
Choose a letter to change
Tap one letter of your word. It lifts up and is marked with a small arrow, so you can see which one you are changing.
Pick its new letter
Tap a letter on the keyboard below, or type it. If the result is a real word, it becomes the next step of your ladder: COLD can become CORD.
Keep climbing
Change one letter at a time, making a real word each time. Letters that already match the goal are marked with a green bar underneath.
Reach the goal
When your word is the goal word, the puzzle is solved. Compare your number of steps with par, the fewest steps possible.
Undo or ask for a hint
Undo takes back your last step. Hint makes the next step for you along one of the shortest routes from where you are now.
The full rules
What you need
Word Ladder needs nothing more than two words of the same length. On GamesBento the letters are shown as wooden tiles, with an on-screen keyboard below. On paper, write the start word at the top and the goal word at the bottom, and fill in the steps between them.
The aim
Turn the start word into the goal word by changing one letter at a time. Each step must be a real word. For example, COLD can become WARM in four steps:
COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM
How to play
Your current word is shown in big tiles, with the goal word on a green rung below it.
- Tap a letter of your word to choose it. The chosen letter lifts up and is marked with a small arrow.
- Tap a letter on the keyboard to put it in that place. If the new word is on our list, it is added to your ladder straight away.
- Undo takes back your last step. Start again takes you back to the start word.
If the new word is not on our list, you will see a gentle message and nothing changes, so you can try another letter. A word you have already used can’t be used again.
Above your word, the ladder so far is shown as a row of small word cards, starting with the start word.
You can also play with a keyboard. Use the left and right arrow keys (or the number keys) to choose a letter, then type the new letter. Backspace undoes a step, and Shift+H or ? gives a hint.
Par and your steps
Each puzzle shows its par: the number of steps in the shortest ladder through everyday words. Next to it is your own step count. Matching par is a fine result, but you don’t have to. Any ladder that reaches the goal solves the puzzle.
Hints
If you are stuck, press Hint. The next word on one of the shortest ladders from your current word is added for you, and the message tells you which letter changed. Hint steps are marked with a small blue dot. You can use as many hints as you like, and a ladder finished with hints still counts as solved.
The daily puzzle
Every day there is a new puzzle with four-letter words and a par of 4. Everyone gets the same puzzle on the same date. Solve it to keep your daily streak going and, if you like, to add the day to the weekly leaderboard.
Practice
After the daily puzzle, choose New game and then Practice for as many puzzles as you like:
- Easy: four-letter words, par 3.
- Normal: four-letter words, par 4.
- Hard: five-letter words, par 4 to 6.
Tips for climbing
- Look at the goal. Letters that already match are marked in green. Try to change the other letters to the goal’s letters, one at a time.
- Change the vowels. Swapping A, E, I, O or U often opens up new words: CORD, CARD, CURD.
- Take a step sideways. Sometimes no letter can go straight to the goal’s letter. Change a different letter first, and the way often opens up.
- Think of rhymes. Words that rhyme differ in their first letter: COLD, BOLD, GOLD, HOLD, TOLD.
- Work backwards. Think of words one letter away from the goal, and aim for one of those instead.
Common questions
What does par mean?
Par is the number of steps in the shortest ladder through everyday words. Reaching the goal in par is a fine achievement, but any route that gets there solves the puzzle, however many steps it takes.
Can I move the letters around?
No. Each step changes one letter in its place. COLD can become CORD or BOLD, but not CLOD, because that would move letters around rather than change one.
Can I use the same word twice?
No. Each word can appear in your ladder only once, so the ladder always moves forward. If you have gone the wrong way, Undo takes your steps back.
Do hints stop the puzzle counting?
No. A puzzle you finish with hints still counts as solved, including the daily puzzle for the weekly leaderboard. Each hint makes one step for you, starting from the word you are on now.
Is there a new puzzle every day?
Yes. Every day there is a new daily puzzle with four-letter words and a par of 4, the same for everyone. After that, practice gives you as many puzzles as you like at Easy, Normal or Hard.
Where it comes from
The writer Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published this puzzle under the name Doublets in the magazine Vanity Fair in 1879, setting readers challenges such as turning HEAD into TAIL. He described it as a game he had invented to amuse two young friends. The puzzle has stayed popular ever since and is also known as word ladder, word golf, laddergram and word links.
