How to play
A five-letter English word is hidden, and you have six tries to find it. Type any real five-letter word and press Enter. After each guess the tiles change colour to show how close you are:
- Green – the letter is in the word and in the right spot (S above).
- Amber – the letter is in the word, but in a different spot (O above).
- Grey – the letter is not in the word, or not as many times as you typed it.
Use what each row tells you to make a better next guess. Find the word within six guesses to win; if the sixth guess misses, the answer is shown.
Rules
- Real words only. Every guess must be a five-letter word from the game’s dictionary of 8,558 English words. Names, abbreviations and hyphenated words are not accepted. A word that is too short or not in the list shakes the row and does not use up a try.
- Answers are common words. The hidden word comes from a hand-picked list of 2,087 everyday words, without plurals such as “cats”.
- Double letters. Both the guess and the answer can contain the same letter more than once. Exact matches are marked first; any remaining copies turn amber only while unmatched copies are left in the answer. If the answer is CRANE and you guess EERIE, only the last E is green and the other two are grey, because CRANE has just one E.
- Hard mode. Every green letter must stay in its spot and every amber letter must appear in each later guess. You can switch it on or off before the first guess of a game.
- Daily and Unlimited. In Daily mode everyone gets the same word on the same calendar day, based on the date on your device, and you get one attempt; a new word arrives at midnight. Unlimited lets you play as many rounds as you like. Giving up an Unlimited round with New word counts as a loss. Statistics are kept separately for each mode.
Controls
- Mouse and touch: tap the letters on the on-screen keyboard, tap Enter to submit and the arrow key to delete a letter.
- Keyboard: type letters, press Enter to submit and Backspace to delete. Tab reaches the buttons and Esc closes a panel.
- Keyboard colours: each key shows the best result found for that letter so far – green beats amber, and amber beats grey.
- Settings: turn on hard mode or high contrast colours (orange and blue), which many players with colour vision deficiency find easier to tell apart.
Tips and strategy
- Open with common letters. A first word with two or three different vowels and frequent consonants such as R, S, T, L or N – for example STARE, CRANE or SLATE – usually reveals more than a word full of rare letters.
- Test new letters early. In normal mode your second guess does not have to fit the clues. A word made of fresh letters often narrows the answer down faster than one that repeats what you already know.
- Never reuse grey letters unless you suspect a double letter. Words such as APPLE, SHEEP and FLOOR are fair game.
- Watch out for word families. Endings like _IGHT or _OUND fit many words (LIGHT, NIGHT, MIGHT, SOUND, ROUND…). When several first letters are possible, spend a guess that tests many of them at once instead of trying them one by one.
- Take your time. There is no timer, so think about letter positions before you press Enter.
Frequently asked questions
Is Word Guess free?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download and no account, and it also works on phones and tablets.
Why was my word not accepted?
The game only accepts five-letter words from its dictionary. Very new slang, names and a few offensive words are not included, so try a different word – the rejected attempt does not cost you a try.
When does the daily word change?
At midnight in your local time zone. The daily word is picked from the date, so everyone who plays on the same date solves the same word.
Can I play more than one word a day?
Yes. Switch to Unlimited mode and press New word after each round for as many games as you like.
Are my statistics saved?
Statistics, settings and the game in progress are stored in your browser on this device. Clearing site data resets them, and in a private window they may not be kept.
What does the Share button copy?
A small grid of coloured squares that shows how your guesses went, without any letters, so you can compare results with friends without spoiling the word.