Word ladder games
Updated November 4, 2026
Lewis Carroll invented the word ladder in 1877: turn one word into another, one small change at a time, and every step has to be a real word. It's still one of the best puzzles there is, and there are some great free daily versions online.
We make Sprout, the first one on the list. It's a word ladder that grows: you start with two letters and add your way up. The rest are made by other people.
Sprout
Start with a two-letter seed and grow it into the day's word. Each turn you can swap two letters, add one new letter anywhere, or both, and every step has to be a real word. Do it in the fewest turns possible and you grow a sunflower; a turn or two more grows a tulip or a daisy. Somewhere on the day's routes a golden seed word is hidden, and every finish gets planted in your monthly garden.
Play Sprout freeMore word ladder and word-building games
- 2
Weaver
The classic daily word ladder: get from one four-letter word to another, changing one letter at a time, with every step a real word.
- 3
Wordiply
The Guardian's daily game: build the longest word you can that contains a short starter word, in five tries.
- 4
Waffle
Six crossing words in a waffle-shaped grid, all scrambled. Swap letters to fix them with as few moves as you can.
- 5
Squaredle
A daily word search where you spell words by connecting neighboring letters in any direction until the board is clear.
- 6
Contexto
Guess the secret word by meaning: every guess gets a rank showing how close it is, with unlimited tries.
Want a break from words? Try Spankle, where you put six things in order by year, price or height, or Top Floor, a daily guess-the-price game. Both are free and daily, made by us.
Questions
What is a word ladder?
A word puzzle where you turn one word into another in small steps, changing a letter at a time, and every step along the way must be a real word. Lewis Carroll called them doublets.
Is there a daily word ladder game?
Yes. Weaver gives you a daily four-letter ladder, and Sprout gives you a daily ladder that grows from a two-letter seed into a longer word.
How is Sprout different from Weaver?
In Weaver the words stay the same length and you change one letter at a time. In Sprout the word grows: each turn you can swap two letters and add one new letter, so a two-letter seed becomes a five- to seven-letter word.
Are word ladder games free?
Every game on this page is free to play in a browser with no account.
Made by Spankle, a small set of free daily games. Know a game we missed? Tell us. · Privacy