Free word game · No ads · No sign-up
Small words.
Endless possibilities.
Five letters. Six guesses. That glorious lightbulb moment.
Solve the daily word, then keep the good guesses going with unlimited free play.
A new Word of the Day every midnight
What is word-y?
A little brain workout.
A whole lot of “one more round.”
word-y is a free, ad-free word-guessing game played in the browser. You have six tries to find a hidden five-letter word, and after each guess the tiles turn green, gold, or grey to show how close you are. There is one shared Word of the Day, plus an unlimited free-play mode, built-in hints, and detailed stats.
- Price
- Free
- Ads
- None, ever
- Account
- Not needed
- Puzzles
- 1 daily + unlimited
- Rules
- 5 letters, 6 guesses
- Dictionary
- 12,972 accepted words
- New daily word
- Your local midnight
- Plays on
- Phone, tablet, desktop
How to play
Easy to learn.
Hard to put down.
Type any five-letter word and press Enter. Each tile then changes colour to tell you whether that letter is in the hidden word, and whether it’s in the right spot. Use those clues to find the word in six guesses or fewer.
Type a guess
Enter any valid five-letter word with the on-screen keys or your keyboard. Tap any square in the row to fill letters in whatever order you like.
Read the colours
Every tile flips to show green, gold, or grey. The keyboard keeps a running record of each letter you’ve tried.
Narrow it down
Keep green letters where they are, try gold letters in new spots, and steer clear of grey ones.
Solve within six
Find the word in six guesses. Stuck? A hint greys out a letter that isn’t in the word. You get three per round.
- o
Green: right letter, right spot.
- s
Gold: in the word, but somewhere else.
- l
Grey: not in the word at all.
A worked example
CRANE: all grey. C, R, A, N and E are all out, which already rules out a big chunk of the dictionary.
SLOTH: O is locked in the middle. S, T and H are in the word but need to move. L is out.
GHOST: H moves to the front, S and T swap to the end. Solved in three.
Two ways to play
A daily ritual.
Or an all-day thing.
Both, whenever you want. The daily puzzle is the same word for everyone, so you can compare results with friends. Free play hands you a new random word each round, so you’re never left waiting until tomorrow.
Word of the Day
One puzzle a day, shared by every player. Progress saves if you leave mid-game, and a daily streak tracks how many days in a row you’ve solved it.
Play today’s wordFree play
A fresh random word every round, with no limit. Practise openers, chase a streak, or just keep playing. Tap “New word” to skip one anytime.
Play unlimited| Word of the Day | Free play | |
|---|---|---|
| Words | 1 per day | Unlimited |
| Same word for everyone | Yes | No, random each round |
| Replay | Once per day | As often as you like |
| Streak | Daily streak | Win streak |
| Hints | 3 per round | 3 per round |
| Shareable result | Yes, with puzzle number | Yes |
Features
All the good stuff.
None of the ads.
No ads, no sign-up
No banners, pop-ups, or paywalls, and no account. Open the page and play.
Hints when you’re stuck
Three hints per round, each greying out a letter that isn’t in the answer. Winning without any hints counts as a clean win.
Stats that go deeper
Win rate, streaks, guess distribution, your most-used starting words with their win rates, and your opener style.
Spoiler-free sharing
Send your result as a coloured emoji grid with a link to the game, never the word itself.
Type in any order
Tap any square to place a letter there, or use arrow keys. Works with the on-screen keyboard or your own.
Fair answers
Guess any of 12,972 five-letter words, but answers come from about 2,300 common words, so the answer is never an obscure word.
Strategy
Make your first guess
a good one.
Start with a word that tests common letters, like SLATE, CRANE, or TRACE. The letters E, A, R, O, T, L, I, S and N turn up most in five-letter words, so an opener built from them tells you the most on your first guess.
Popular openers
word-y’s stats track every opener you use and how often it wins, so you can find out which works best for you.
- Use fresh letters on guess two. If your opener comes back mostly grey, a second word with five new letters rules out even more.
- Don’t waste greys. The keyboard marks every letter you’ve ruled out, so skip them.
- Move your golds. A gold letter is in the word but not in that spot. Try it somewhere new.
- Remember double letters. Words like SPOON, EERIE and LLAMA are fair game. If the clues stop adding up, try a repeat.
- Save hints for a tie. Down to MIGHT, NIGHT or LIGHT with guesses running out? Each hint greys out a letter that isn’t in the word, and sometimes it’s the one you were unsure about.
FAQ
A few more answers.
Is word-y free to play?
Yes. word-y is completely free, with no ads, no in-app purchases, and no sign-up. Open the page in any browser and start playing.
How many words can I play per day?
As many as you like. There is one shared Word of the Day, and free-play mode gives you a fresh random word every round, with no limit.
When does the Word of the Day change?
At midnight in your own time zone. Puzzle No. 1 was January 1, 2026, and the puzzle number goes up by one each day.
Does everyone get the same daily word?
Yes. Everyone playing on the same calendar date gets the same Word of the Day, so you can compare results with friends. No word repeats for about six years.
Can I replay the Word of the Day?
No. Each daily puzzle can be played once, and your progress is saved if you leave mid-game. After you finish, switch to free play for unlimited rounds.
How do hints work in word-y?
You get three hints per round. Each hint greys out one keyboard letter that is not in the answer, so you can rule it out. Wins without any hints are counted as clean wins in your stats.
Which words are allowed as guesses?
Any of 12,972 five-letter words in the full Wordle-style dictionary. Answers are drawn from a smaller list of about 2,300 common words, so the solution is never an obscure word.
Do I need an account? Where are my stats saved?
No account is needed. Your stats, streaks, and daily progress are saved in your browser on your own device. Clearing your browser's site data resets them, and they do not sync between devices.
Does word-y work on phones?
Yes. word-y runs in any modern browser on iPhone, Android, tablets, and computers, with an on-screen keyboard sized for thumbs. Nothing to download.
How do I share my result?
Tap Share on the results card. word-y sends a spoiler-free grid of coloured squares and a link to the game, never the word itself.
Is word-y the same as Wordle?
word-y uses the same guess-the-five-letter-word rules as Wordle, but it is an independent game, not affiliated with Wordle or The New York Times. It adds unlimited free play, built-in hints, and detailed stats alongside a daily puzzle.
Your next aha awaits.
Six guesses. One word. Infinite rounds. It takes about three minutes, and it’s free.