How to Play
GoalTransform the start word into the target word by changing a single letter at each step. Every intermediate step must be a valid English word.
Controls- Click a letter in the current word, then type a new letter to change that position.
- Each change must produce a real dictionary word — invalid steps are rejected.
- Fill every rung of the ladder to complete the puzzle.
DifficultyLonger words and fewer obvious letter swaps make higher difficulties tougher.
Tips- Work backwards from the target — a step that gets you closer is usually right.
- Vowels change more freely than consonants, so try swapping those first.
- Fewer steps mean a higher score; aim for the shortest ladder you can find.
- Common four- and five-letter words are your best stepping stones.
About Word Ladder History, Strategy & Tips
A word ladder challenges you to transform one word into another by changing exactly one letter at a time. Every intermediate step must itself be a valid English word. For example, you can climb from COLD to WARM in four steps: COLD → CORD → CORE → CARE → WARM.
It is a deceptively simple puzzle that exercises your vocabulary and your ability to hold several letter possibilities in mind at once.
The History of Word Ladder
The word ladder was invented by Lewis Carroll — the mathematician and author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — on Christmas Day 1877. He had been puzzling over how to amuse two young guests and devised the game, which he originally called “doublets.”
Carroll published his doublets in Vanity Fair magazine from 1879, and they became a fashionable Victorian parlour game. He set strict rules: change one letter per step, every step a real word, and reach the target in as few steps as possible. The puzzle has been a favourite of word-lovers ever since, appearing in newspapers, puzzle books, and now in browsers — its elegant mechanic entirely unchanged in nearly 150 years.
Solving Strategies
Work backwards from the target
The target word is fixed, so it is often easier to reason from it. Ask: what valid word is one letter away from the target? Building a chain backwards toward the start word sometimes opens a clearer path.
Swap vowels first
Vowels change more freely than consonants in English — there are simply more valid words differing by one vowel. Try changing A to E, I to E, O to U, and so on, before touching the consonants.
Lean on common words
Short, everyday words are your best stepping stones. Four- and five-letter words with common letters (D, R, S, T, L, N) form dense networks, giving you many possible single-letter swaps to choose from.
Fewer steps score higher
The shortest ladder earns the best score. Once you reach the target, see if you can trim a step — sometimes a more direct swap was available earlier and you took the scenic route.
Word Ladder FAQ
Does every step have to be a real word?
Yes — each rung of the ladder must be a valid English word, or the step is rejected.
Can I change more than one letter per step?
No — exactly one letter may change at each step. That single rule is the whole puzzle.
Is there always a solution?
The puzzles on this site are chosen so that a valid ladder exists. The challenge is finding it, ideally in as few steps as possible.
How does difficulty change?
Longer words and fewer obvious letter swaps make higher difficulties tougher.