How to Play Schmurdle

The Goal

Find the secret word before you run out of guesses. Type a word with the on-screen keyboard (or your keyboard) and press Enter. Any valid Scrabble word is accepted as a guess.

You get one more guess than the word has letters: 5 guesses for 4-letter words, 6 for 5-letter words and 7 for 6-letter words.

Tile Colors

If a letter appears twice in your guess but only once in the word, only one of them is colored.

Game Options

• Letters: 4, 5 or 6Choose the word length below the board. It is locked while a game is running; finish the game or start a new one to change it.
• Word listCommon uses everyday words, Challenging adds less familiar words, and Expert uses the hardest. Only the secret word comes from the list — any valid word may be guessed.
• New GameStarts a fresh word. If a game is in progress you are asked before it is abandoned.

Settings (gear button)

• Keyboard hintsColors the keyboard keys green, yellow or grey from your guesses. Turn it off for a harder game.
• Free placementTap any tile in the current row, then a key, to place a letter anywhere in the word. Place known letters in their spots and fill in the rest later.
• Loose modeOne extra guess per game (6, 7 or 8). Loose games keep their own separate stats. Takes effect on your next game.

Stats

When logged in, every finished game is recorded: games played, win percentage, current and best streak, and how many guesses your wins took. Use the Letters box in the Stats dialog to view each word length, and tick Loose to see your loose-mode stats.