About Word Duel
Word Duel turns the five-letter guessing game into a race. Both players get the same hidden word and six guesses, every guess is marked letter by letter, and you watch the other player’s progress as colour patterns without seeing their words. Fewest guesses wins; the same number of guesses goes to the faster solver. Play the robot, which guesses slowly on Easy and quickly and well on Hard, or invite a friend online with a link or a code. The word is drawn from the same list as Daily Word.
How to play Word Duel
- Both players get the same hidden five-letter word and six guesses each. Every guess must be a real word.
- Each letter of a guess is marked: in the right spot, in the word but elsewhere, or not in the word. You see the other player’s rows as colour patterns only.
- The fewest guesses wins; with the same number of guesses, the faster solve. Running out of guesses, or giving up, loses to any solve.
- Type a word and press Enter (the on-screen keyboard works too). Against the robot, Easy guesses slowly and Hard quickly and well.
Tips & strategy
- Open with a word of five different common letters, then test new letters with the second guess rather than repeating what you know.
- A tick is a letter in the right spot and an arrow a letter in the word elsewhere: build the third guess from both.
- Watch the other player’s patterns. Lots of green on their side means it is time to take a risk, not to play safe.
- Speed decides ties, so do not dawdle once the word is clear, but a wrong guess costs more than a few seconds.
Word Duel: questions and answers
Do we really get the same word?
Yes. Online the server picks one word for the room and sends it to nobody until the duel is over; against the robot, your browser picks it.
Can I see the other player’s guesses?
Only as patterns of colours, so you know how close they are but not which letters they have found.
Who wins if we both solve it?
The player who needed fewer guesses. With the same number of guesses, the one who solved it first.
Is there a time limit?
Online the duel lasts five minutes at most; a player who has not finished by then is out of guesses. There is no limit against the robot, but it keeps guessing.