How to play Poopdle
- Start with the word on your board. Everyone gets the same daily puzzle.
- Change exactly one letter. The other three letters stay in the same positions. You can type a whole word or tap a tile on the current row to replace that letter.
- Make another real word. Each step must be accepted by the Poopdle dictionary. You cannot reuse a word already on your current ladder.
- Reach POOP. Try to use as few moves as possible.
COOK becomes COOP by changing K to P. COOP becomes POOP by changing C to P. That is two moves. COOK → POOP would change two letters at once, so it isn’t a legal move.
Understand your score
A move is one accepted word after the starting word. Shortest path means the smallest possible number of moves using the same dictionary as your guesses. Match it for a perfect ladder. There may be more than one shortest solution.
Invalid submissions don’t add moves or take away lives. There is no countdown or move-based loss. Active play time is shown for interest; it pauses while the page is hidden or a dialog is open.
Undo, hints and restarting
- Undo removes your last move. You can revisit a word once it is no longer on your ladder.
- Hint first identifies a useful letter position. Tap again to see a possible next word. Each revealed hint stage is recorded.
- Restart returns to the starting word. Previous hints, undos, restarts and elapsed time remain on your record.
- Check word tells you whether a word is accepted. It doesn’t change your ladder or mark assistance.
- Reveal ends the puzzle without a win and shows a shortest solution.
Using a hint, Undo or Restart marks the result assisted. Assisted daily wins still count toward your streak, and statistics distinguish them from independent wins.
Learn from your route
After finishing, open Explore your route. Route Lab compares your path with the shortest alternatives and identifies the first step that stopped reducing the remaining distance. A familiar-looking letter match isn’t always the best route: sometimes you need to change it again later.
Daily puzzles and streaks
Daily puzzles reset at 00:00 UTC. Your first result is saved. A successful completion of the current daily puzzle adds one day to your streak, and replaying never adds another. If a new day begins while you’re playing, you can finish the old puzzle as practice and choose when to start the new one.
Archive and Unlimited results don’t affect your daily streak. Progress and statistics live in this browser; clearing site data or using another device starts a separate record.
Three tips for a shorter ladder
- Work backwards. Think of words one letter away from POOP, such as COOP, LOOP or POOL.
- Explore vowel changes. Changing a middle letter can reveal an unexpected connection.
- Think beyond matching letters. A word that looks closer to POOP may lead down a longer path. Use the whole word, not just its appearance.