Letter Guesser — 5-Letter Word Guessing Game
Guess the secret 5-letter word in 6 tries. Green = right letter right spot, yellow = right letter wrong spot.
How to play
- Type a 5-letter word into the input box and click Guess (or press Enter).
- Green tiles: the letter is in the secret word at that exact position.
- Yellow tiles: the letter is in the word but in a different position.
- Gray tiles: the letter does not appear in the secret word at all.
- You have 6 tries — use the color feedback to narrow down the word.
Guess the secret 5-letter word in 6 tries. Green tiles = correct letter in correct position. Yellow = correct letter in wrong position. Gray = letter not in the word.
How it works
Letter Guesser is a word-guessing game in the style of the popular Wordle puzzle. You have six attempts to identify a secret five-letter word. After each guess the game color-codes every letter: green means the letter is correct and in the right position, yellow means the letter is in the word but in the wrong position, and gray means the letter does not appear in the word at all.
The color feedback after each guess carries rich information. Green letters confirm both identity and position and should be fixed in all future guesses. Yellow letters tell you the letter belongs somewhere else in the word. Gray letters can be eliminated from all future guesses, dramatically narrowing the candidate pool.
Opening word strategy matters significantly. A strong opener contains five common and distinct letters that maximize the information gained from the first guess. Words using high-frequency letters such as E, A, R, O, T, L, I, S, and N tend to produce the most feedback. Avoid opening with words that repeat letters, since each unique letter eliminates or confirms more possibilities.
This game exercises vocabulary, pattern recognition, and deductive reasoning under a strict guess limit, making it both entertaining and mentally engaging.
Worked example
Solving from three clues using elimination
- Guess CRANE: C is gray, R is yellow, A is gray, N is gray, E is green. The word ends in E and contains R but not in position 2.
- Guess STORE: S is gray, T is gray, O is yellow, R is yellow, E is green. O and R are both in the word but not in positions 3 and 4.
- Known: ends E, contains R and O, no C, A, N, S, T. Guess ROGUE: R is green, O is green, G is gray, U is yellow, E is green.
- Pattern is R-O-?-?-E with U somewhere. Guess ROUGE.
- ROUGE confirmed as the answer.
Secret word found in five guesses using systematic elimination and constraint tracking.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Reusing a gray letter in a later guess, wasting a turn on a letter already confirmed absent from the word.
- Fixing a yellow letter in the same position where it was marked yellow, which is guaranteed wrong since yellow means the wrong position.
- Spending guesses on words with repeated letters before exhausting the alphabet, missing opportunities to eliminate additional candidate letters.
Key terms
- Green tile
- A letter that is correct and in the exact position it occupies in the secret word.
- Yellow tile
- A letter that exists in the secret word but is placed in the wrong position in this guess.
- Elimination
- The process of ruling out letters confirmed as absent (gray) to reduce the number of possible remaining words.
Frequently asked questions
- What do the colors mean?
- Green = right letter, right spot. Yellow = right letter, wrong spot. Gray = letter not in the word.
- Can I use the on-screen keyboard?
- Yes — click the letter tiles below the board, or type on your physical keyboard.