From one word to another. Change just one letter with every step. How few moves can you manage?
One letter different. Use words in the curated English word list.
Explore 440 checked Word Ladder puzzles, with familiar easy routes, optional longer challenges, undo, hints and saved progress.
Change one letter at a time to reach the goal. For example CAT → COT → COG → DOG. Easy starts with familiar connected routes; choose Classic or Challenge whenever you want.
New puzzle avoids recent pairs. Undo helps you explore; revisiting a word is legal. Reload restores your current ladder.
Each entry must be an accepted English word of the same length and differ by exactly one letter. Targets use a separate familiar-word set.
Par is the actual shortest path in the accepted dictionary. Difficulty also considers familiarity and branching along that route.
Start at 150 points; each move beyond par costs 5 and each new hint costs 10, with a 25-point floor. Repeating a hint on the same path is free. Hints always start at your current word.
Work backwards from the target as well as forwards from the start. A useful intermediate word may temporarily look less like your destination.
Try changing a vowel to open new routes. Undo is useful when a branch seems unpromising; longer five-letter puzzles require more planning.
Worked example: CAT → COT changes A to O; COT → COG changes T to G; COG → DOG changes C to D. Each step changes exactly one letter and is a word in this game. CAT → DOG is not a legal single move because all three letters change. Try the route yourself when these words appear, or use Undo to explore another branch.
Word Ladder offers 440 checked English word pairs, with familiar routes for beginners and longer challenges when you want them. Recent pairs are avoided, and your unfinished ladder is saved in this browser. The wordplay remains English when you change the guide language.