Anyone can reach the goal. Almost nobody finds the best way up.

Rung is a daily word ladder. Start from one word, climb to the goal, and change a single letter at a time, where every rung has to be a real word. That part is simple. Doing it well is not.

THE ROUTE IS THE SCORE
Most word games ask whether you solved it. Rung asks how you climbed. Every move you make in the word ladder is scored against the word graph:

• Green is progress, a step that brings you closer.
• Gold is a detour, a real word that costs you.
• Purple is a rare rung, a word almost nobody thinks of.

Reach the goal on the shortest possible line and you earn DIRECT. Do it in a way that threads a rare word, with no hints at all, and you earn FIRST ASCENT: the crown. Most players will never see one. Some days it cannot be done at all.

RARE IS A NUMBER, NOT A WORD
Rung watches every route every solver takes. So when you find a rare word, it tells you the truth: "LODE, a rare rung. Only 4% of today's solvers found it." Tap any word on your route to learn what it means. Miss the rare line and Rung will show you the one you missed, so that tomorrow you see it coming.

A DAILY WORTH KEEPING
• One fresh word ladder every day, at midnight. Everyone plays the same one.
• A streak to keep, and a home screen widget.
• No timers. No lives. No pressure. Two minutes, done.
• Nearly 200 past ladders in the archive, and a two year pool, so nothing repeats.
• Six badges, from SCENIC to the crown, and a trophy case that remembers every puzzle that earned one.
• Google Play Games leaderboards for streaks, crowns and solves.
• Syncs across your devices.

SHARE THE SHAPE, NOT THE ANSWER
Your result shares as a spoiler free grid, and the shape is the story. A clean climb is a straight column. Every detour steps sideways. A crown is one unbroken line with a single purple rung in it. Your friends will know exactly what you did without seeing a single letter.

MADE FOR WORD PEOPLE
If you have finished today's Wordle, today's Connections and today's crossword and you still want one more, this is the one. It is a word game with something to master.

Free to play, every day, forever. Optional one time unlocks: remove ads, open the full archive, or pick up hint packs. No subscription.

Rung is a free daily word ladder game and word chain puzzle for people who love word games, brain games, vocabulary games and daily puzzles. If you enjoy word ladder puzzles, letter puzzles, spelling games, word chain games or a daily brain teaser, Rung gives you a new word ladder every day.

Play today's Rung. How few moves will it take you?

A daily word ladder by Oraya.