How to play

How to play Octordle

Eight hidden five-letter words, one guess at a time, thirteen guesses in total. Every guess is scored on all eight boards at once.

1. Type any five-letter word

   It has to be a real word. The same guess lands on all eight boards, and each board scores it against its own hidden word.

2. Read the colours per board

   Green: right letter, right place. Yellow: in that word, wrong place. Grey: not in that word. The same letter can be green on one board and grey on another.

3. Read the keyboard

   Each key is split into eight cells, two columns by four rows, in the same order as the boards. A cell turns green or yellow as you learn about that board. A key that's grey on every open board goes dark.

4. Use the strip

   The eight chips above the boards show each board's number and how many answers still fit it. Tap one to jump to that board. A chip with 1 left is a free solve; a chip with 60 left needs a probing word.

5. Finish all eight in thirteen

   A solved board folds into its title line and its keyboard cells clear. When all eight are solved, or the guesses run out, every row expands so you can read the game back.

A worked start

Say the eight words are STONE, TORSO, BRUNT, HEATH, CRISP, FLUID, MAYOR, FUZZY (you don't know that yet) and you open with CRANE, SLOTH and GUILD, three probes that between them test fifteen different letters. Here is what each board shows:

• Board 1 (STONE): CRANE put N and E green at the end, SLOTH added S and O green with T yellow. Only a couple of words fit S·O·NE with a T: STONE is one guess away.
• Board 6 (FLUID): GUILD put D green at the end and U, I, L yellow. Four letters known, three of them in the wrong place: only FLUID fits.
• Board 7 (MAYOR): A and R yellow from CRANE, O yellow from SLOTH, nothing from GUILD. Seven words still fit; this one needs a real guess, not a probe.
• Board 8 (FUZZY): three probes and only one green, the U from GUILD. Five words fit, and none of your probes touched F, Z or Y.
• The strip now reads 1 · 2 · 2 · 1 · 1 · 1 · 7 · 5: four boards are free solves, two are a coin flip, two need thought. Take the free ones first; every solved board clears its keyboard cells.

With ten guesses left for eight boards you can afford exactly two more words that don't solve anything. After that, every guess has to land. (Three probes narrow things this far because the answer list has 2,288 words; the real difficulty is spending the remaining guesses without wasting one.)

Strategy tips

• Open with three probes. CRANE, SLOTH, GUILD (or STARE, CLOUD, NYMPH) cover fifteen letters and light up every board before you commit.
• Watch the strip. A board with 1 or 2 left is a free solve; take it. A board with dozens left needs a probing word, not a guess.
• Count your guesses. Thirteen guesses for eight words means at most five words that don't solve a board. Three probes use three of them.
• Solve the easy boards early. Every solved board clears its keyboard cells, so the keyboard gets easier to read as you go.
• Read the review. After the game, a ✗ marks a guess that barely narrowed anything. Tap it to see what would have worked.

Try a practice puzzle

Same rules, thirteen guesses, unlimited hints. Nothing here is saved.