Pocket Games
Word Ladder
COLD, CORD, CARD, WARD, WARM. Lewis Carroll invented the game in 1877 and the rule fits on one line: change one letter at a time, and every step has to be a real word. The hard part is that words never touch where you want them to.
How to play
The target word sits at the top of the screen; the bottom of the chain is the word you are standing on. Type the new word and confirm: it is accepted if it changes exactly one letter from the last one and if it is in the dictionary. Letters stay where they are: nothing moves, nothing is added, nothing is dropped.
Tiles that turn green are the letters already in the right place for the target word. They are the quickest way to see how far you still are, but they are not a rule: you will often have to give one up to get across.
Chains use four- or five-letter words, alternating. The last six rows stay on screen: as the chain grows, the oldest word slides off the top and an empty row appears at the bottom.
There is always a route
The two words are not picked at random: before offering them the game checks that a path between them really exists, and counts how many changes the shortest one takes. That is the number under the target word.
For the same reason you will never get two words that are a single letter apart, like DOVE and DIVE: that would be a one-move game. The minimum distance starts at three.
The minimum is a reference, not a limit: you can take as many changes as you like, the chain still completes. What gets saved is how many chains you have completed and how many of those you closed in the minimum; with a Google account the count follows you to your other device.
How to find the steps
Work backwards. This is the tip that unlocks the most chains. Look at the target word and ask which words reach it in one change: usually there are two or three, and finding those makes the problem much shorter.
Change the vowels first. They are the most elastic part of a word: CARD, CORD, CURD. Consonants, especially in clusters, almost always block.
Don’t fall in love with the green tiles. Holding on to letters that are already right looks obvious, but sometimes the only step available asks you to break a correct letter and win it back two moves later.
Going back costs nothing. If a road closes, retype the previous word: it is always one change away, so it is always a legal move. There is no way to get truly stuck.
Try the families. Singular and plural, the verb forms, the small endings: they are all a letter apart, and they are the handiest bridge from one corner of the vocabulary to another.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use words I don’t know?
The game accepts a wider vocabulary than the one it draws the two ends from: if a word exists, it usually goes through. The two ends, on the other hand, are always common words.
Can you beat the minimum?
No: before offering you a pair, the game checks that no shorter route exists even through the rarer words, so the number you see is the true minimum and matching it is the best anyone can do. The rarer words are still accepted: they will not get you there sooner, but they widen the routes available when the obvious one closes.
Are the words always the same length?
No: chains are four or five letters and alternate on their own. The short ones are more immediate, the long ones have more crossings to play with.
Which language does it use?
The language of the app: every language has its own vocabulary, so English chains are made of English words, Italian ones of Italian words, and so on.
Can you lose a chain?
No, there is no attempt limit and no clock. A rejected word does not count as a mistake: you fix it and carry on. A chain left halfway is saved, and you find it exactly where you left it.
More games to try
See the full list of games, or open Pocket Games in your browser: they are free and you don’t need an account.