How to play Rungs
Rungs is a daily word ladder. You climb from a start word to a target word by changing exactly one letter at a time, and every rung along the way has to be a real five-letter word. Par is the shortest possible ladder, so the challenge is not just finishing but finishing efficiently.
Make your own Rungs ladder and share it with a link.
How to play
- Climb from the start word to the target word, one rung at a time.
- Each rung changes exactly one letter of the word above it. An asterisk marks which letter changed.
- Every rung must be a real five-letter word, and no word can be used twice.
- Par is the shortest possible ladder — try to match or beat it.
- Use Undo to back out of a dead end, or Give up to end the climb.
Tips & strategy
- Compare the start and target letter by letter first. The positions that differ are the work you actually have to do.
- Change the letters that are already correct last — every rung that undoes progress costs you two moves.
- Vowels are the usual bridges. Swapping a vowel often reaches a whole new family of words when consonants are stuck.
- If a position resists, look for a word that changes a nearby letter to open it up, rather than forcing the hard one directly.
- Practice generates a fresh ladder any time and never touches your Daily streak, so it is the place to experiment.
Accessibility
The changed letter on each rung is marked with an asterisk as well as styling, and the whole ladder reads as a text list.