Everything you need to play your first round, explained with a worked example instead of just abstract rules.
You're trying to guess a hidden word before you run out of attempts. In 5-letter mode the word is five letters long; in 6-letter mode it's six. Either way, you get 6 guesses, and every guess must be a real word of the correct length.
After you submit a guess, each letter's tile changes color based on how it compares to the hidden word:
Say the hidden word is PLANT and you guess PLATE:
P, L, and A are green because they're in the right spot. T is yellow because PLANT does contain a T, just not in the 4th position — it's actually in the 5th position. E is gray because PLANT has no E at all. With this feedback, your next guess should keep P-L-A in place, try T in a different spot (like the end), and drop E entirely — something like PLANT itself, or another word matching those constraints.
If your guess has a letter twice but the answer only has it once, only one tile will light up (green or yellow) — the other will be gray. This trips up a lot of new players. We cover it in detail in How to Handle Repeated Letters.
Use your keyboard or the on-screen keys to type a full word, then press Enter (or tap the Enter key on screen). If the word is too short, or isn't recognized as a real word, the row will shake and you can try again — that attempt isn't used up.
You win as soon as every tile in a row turns green. If you use all 6 guesses without getting there, the round ends and the answer is revealed — then a new word is chosen automatically, so you can go again right away.
Jump into a round now — no sign-up needed.