How do you play a word ladder?

Type a word that changes exactly one letter of the current word and keeps its length, then choose Submit word or press Enter. The word must be in the ENABLE list and must not already be on your ladder. Reach the goal word to finish. Green tiles show letters that already match the goal in the same position, and the outlined tile shows which letter each move changed. A refused word is not counted as a move, and the message says why it was refused.

Where do the start and goal words come from?

From the seed you type, or a random one if you leave the seed blank. The seed picks a start word from the ENABLE words of your chosen length, a breadth-first search finds every word within the difficulty's range, and the seed then picks the goal from those. Easy goals are 3 to 4 moves away, Medium 5 to 6 and Hard 7 to 8, counted as the shortest possible ladder. The same seed, length and difficulty always give the same pair. No daily puzzle or answer list is copied. ENABLE includes rare and inflected words, so a start or goal can be unfamiliar; you can choose Your endpoints and enter your own pair instead.

How is the challenge scored?

A fresh challenge is always five letters, with a start and goal whose shortest ladder is 4 to 8 moves. Your score is 1000 minus the moves still on your finished ladder, so a 6-move ladder scores 994 and higher is better. Undo removes a move from the count. A hint or a revealed ladder before you finish, resumed progress, or a start and goal already seen in this browser in either direction makes the ladder practice, with no score link. Scores are self-reported.

What does a friend see when I share a challenge?

The link carries only a challenge flag, the tool name, the seed, d=5 and your score. Your friend first sees your self-reported score and the fixed rules, then chooses Start same challenge to get the same start and goal; nothing starts on its own. When they finish without help, the page shows both scores, the signed difference and whether they did better, tied or scored lower, and offers a new link with their score. You can copy the link, use your device's share sheet or download a PNG result card, and none of these include your words.

What do the hint and reveal buttons do?

Show hint names one next word that is a single move closer to the goal on a shortest route that does not reuse a word already on your ladder. If every route from your current word needs a used word, it asks you to undo instead. Reveal a shortest ladder shows one complete shortest ladder from the start. Using either before you finish makes that ladder practice; revealing after you finish only adds a comparison, and your score stands.

Is my progress saved?

Your settings, your current ladder and a list of the start and goal pairs you have seen are kept in this browser's local storage, and the words you type are not sent anywhere. Resume saved ladder rebuilds the saved ladder by checking every move again against ENABLE, and a resumed ladder is practice. The browser remembers up to 5,000 pairs; after that, new ladders are practice. The page's Start over button clears the saved ladder and the list.

Why does the word list need to load?

The 1.7 MB ENABLE list downloads from this site the first time you start a ladder on the page, and its byte size, SHA-256 hash, word count and sorted one-word-per-line format are checked before any word is used. If it does not arrive within 20 seconds or fails a check, the page says so and keeps your settings so you can start again. After it loads, every ladder is generated and checked in your browser.

Word Ladder Game

Climb from a start word to a goal word by changing exactly one letter per move, with every rung a real English word from the public-domain ENABLE list. Each seeded start and goal is original: the game picks them from a seed, proves by breadth-first search that a ladder connects them, and shows the shortest possible move count as your target. Choose 3 to 6 letters and an Easy, Medium or Hard distance, type a seed to replay a puzzle, or enter your own start and goal. Undo takes back a move, a hint names one next word on a shortest route, and your settings and current ladder are kept in this browser. A fresh five-letter challenge can share a self-reported score link that a friend can open, play and answer.

Your ladder settings3 to 6 letters

Word lengthDifficultySeed, optionalThe same seed, length and difficulty always give the same start and goal.

A fresh challenge is always five letters with a shortest ladder of 4 to 8 moves, and only a challenge can post a score link. Words come from ENABLE, 172,823 public-domain words loaded from this site when you start.

The ladderWaiting for a start

One letter per move
Change exactly one letter of the current word to make another English word, and keep the length.

Reachable by proof
Every start and goal is connected by breadth-first search before you see it, and the shortest possible move count is shown as your target.

Original ladders
Pairs are generated from a seed, never copied from a daily puzzle.

Choose a seeded puzzle or your own start and goal, then start. The word list loads only when you start.

Moves: None yet
Shortest possible: Not started
Puzzle: Not started
Word list: Not loaded

Worked moves

COLD to WARM4 letters, shortest 4 moves
COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM. Each move changes one letter.
COLD to CARDRefused
Two letters change at once. Go through CORD first.
COLD to COLDSRefused
The length changes. Every rung keeps the length of the start word.
Challenge scoreFive letters, shortest 4 to 8
1000 minus retained moves. A 6-move ladder scores 994; undo removes a move.

Common questions

How do you play a word ladder?: Type a word that changes exactly one letter of the current word and keeps its length, then choose Submit word or press Enter. The word must be in the ENABLE list and must not already be on your ladder. Reach the goal word to finish. Green tiles show letters that already match the goal in the same position, and the outlined tile shows which letter each move changed. A refused word is not counted as a move, and the message says why it was refused.
Where do the start and goal words come from?: From the seed you type, or a random one if you leave the seed blank. The seed picks a start word from the ENABLE words of your chosen length, a breadth-first search finds every word within the difficulty's range, and the seed then picks the goal from those. Easy goals are 3 to 4 moves away, Medium 5 to 6 and Hard 7 to 8, counted as the shortest possible ladder. The same seed, length and difficulty always give the same pair. No daily puzzle or answer list is copied. ENABLE includes rare and inflected words, so a start or goal can be unfamiliar; you can choose Your endpoints and enter your own pair instead.
How is the challenge scored?: A fresh challenge is always five letters, with a start and goal whose shortest ladder is 4 to 8 moves. Your score is 1000 minus the moves still on your finished ladder, so a 6-move ladder scores 994 and higher is better. Undo removes a move from the count. A hint or a revealed ladder before you finish, resumed progress, or a start and goal already seen in this browser in either direction makes the ladder practice, with no score link. Scores are self-reported.
What does a friend see when I share a challenge?: The link carries only a challenge flag, the tool name, the seed, d=5 and your score. Your friend first sees your self-reported score and the fixed rules, then chooses Start same challenge to get the same start and goal; nothing starts on its own. When they finish without help, the page shows both scores, the signed difference and whether they did better, tied or scored lower, and offers a new link with their score. You can copy the link, use your device's share sheet or download a PNG result card, and none of these include your words.
What do the hint and reveal buttons do?: Show hint names one next word that is a single move closer to the goal on a shortest route that does not reuse a word already on your ladder. If every route from your current word needs a used word, it asks you to undo instead. Reveal a shortest ladder shows one complete shortest ladder from the start. Using either before you finish makes that ladder practice; revealing after you finish only adds a comparison, and your score stands.
Is my progress saved?: Your settings, your current ladder and a list of the start and goal pairs you have seen are kept in this browser's local storage, and the words you type are not sent anywhere. Resume saved ladder rebuilds the saved ladder by checking every move again against ENABLE, and a resumed ladder is practice. The browser remembers up to 5,000 pairs; after that, new ladders are practice. The page's Start over button clears the saved ladder and the list.
Why does the word list need to load?: The 1.7 MB ENABLE list downloads from this site the first time you start a ladder on the page, and its byte size, SHA-256 hash, word count and sorted one-word-per-line format are checked before any word is used. If it does not arrive within 20 seconds or fails a check, the page says so and keeps your settings so you can start again. After it loads, every ladder is generated and checked in your browser.

Accepted words come from the pinned public-domain ENABLE list of 172,823 English words, which includes rare and inflected forms, so another word game may reject a word this one accepts. Every generated start and goal is original, chosen by a seeded generator and proved connected by breadth-first search, which also gives the exact shortest ladder length. No daily puzzle or copied answer list is used.