Word ChallengeBeginner guide
How to Play Wordle
New to Wordle? Here are the rules in two minutes: what to do, what the colours mean, and a simple strategy to start winning.
Updated July 2026
The rules
Wordle gives you six guesses to find a hidden five-letter word. Every guess must be a real five-letter word. After each guess, the tiles change colour to show how close you were. Those colours are all the information you need.
What the colours mean
- Green: the letter is correct and in the right position.
- Yellow: the letter is in the word, but in a different position.
- Grey: the letter is not in the word at all. This is just as useful as green: it rules a letter out everywhere.
You guessed CRANE and the answer was TRACE. R, A and E are green (right letter, right spot); C is yellow (in the word, wrong spot); N is grey (not in the word).
The duplicate-letter catch
One rule surprises new players. If you guess a letter twice but it only appears once in the answer, one copy shows colour and the other shows grey. Repeats are common, around 31.7% of answers contain one, so it is worth understanding early. We cover this in depth on the duplicate letters page.
A simple strategy to start with
Open with a strong word built from common, distinct letters (TARES, SLATE or CRANE all work well) then use your greens, yellows and greys to shape each following guess. As you improve, read our complete strategy guide, see the best starting words, and try the free Wordle Solver when you get stuck. Want to play more than once a day? The Word Challenge app gives you unlimited puzzles.
Frequently asked questions
What is Wordle?
Wordle is a daily word game in which you have six tries to guess a hidden five-letter word. After each guess, the tiles change colour to tell you how close you are.
How many guesses do you get in Wordle?
Six. Each guess must be a valid five-letter word, and the colour feedback after each one helps you narrow down the answer.
What do the Wordle colours mean?
Green means the letter is correct and in the right position. Yellow means the letter is in the word but in a different position. Grey means the letter is not in the word at all.
How do duplicate letters work in Wordle?
If you guess a letter twice but it appears once in the answer, one copy shows colour and the other shows grey. Duplicate letters are common, about 31.7% of answers repeat a letter, so do not rule them out.
What is the best first word in Wordle?
Use a word with five common, distinct letters. TARES is the strongest by information gain, but SLATE, CRANE and RAISE are excellent and easier to remember. See our best starting words for the full ranking.
Is Wordle free to play?
Yes. The original Wordle is free to play once a day. If you want unlimited puzzles and different word lengths, our Word Challenge app offers exactly that.
How do I get better at Wordle?
Open with a strong, consistent word, treat grey tiles as useful information, and once a few candidates remain, choose the guess that best splits them. Our strategy guide and free solver walk you through it.