Hardle: Wordle with its clues in disguise

How to play Hardle

Guess the hidden five-letter word in eight tries. Gray works the way it always does: that letter is not in the word. The difference is in the letters that light up. Instead of two clearly different colors, every lit letter shows as one of two neutral styles:

• A solid tile, filled in dark.
• A ring tile, with a thick outline and a light middle.

One style means the letter is in the right spot, and the other means it is in the word but in a different spot. Which is which depends on the day, and the game will not tell you until the round is over. Then the board turns back to the usual green and yellow so you can see what each clue really meant.

The original Hardle uses two colors, blue and pink, for the same trick. We use solid and ring tiles so the clues stay just as hidden while the board stays easy to read in light mode, dark mode and high contrast.

How to crack the code early

The first two or three rows are about learning the day's rule, not just the word. A few ways to settle it fast:

• Move a lit letter. If a letter shows solid in spot 2, play it in spot 4 next. If it is still solid, solid means wrong spot, because a letter is rarely right in two places at once.
• Watch for a flip. If it turns into a ring instead, one of those two spots was right. Try it in a third spot, or test another lit letter, to settle which.
• Use the keyboard. Each key shows the style its letter lit up with last, so you can spot every lit letter at a glance and compare its latest clue.

Once you know the rule, the rest plays like a normal round with two extra guesses. Our best starting words work well here too, because lighting more letters early gives you more clues to compare.

Today's Hardle and Hardle unlimited

The daily Hardle word and its rule are the same for everyone, and both reset at midnight where you are. Daily wins build a streak, your guesses save in this browser, and your shared result shows the true colors of each row after the round, never a letter. Tap Unlimited for Hardle unlimited: a new word with its own rule as often as you like, without touching your streak.

More ways to play

Prefer clues you can read straight away? Play the daily puzzle or unlimited rounds. For another hard twist, try Xordle, with two words on one board, or Don't Wordle, where the goal is to miss. See our list of games like Wordle or every way to play.

This is Vowelkit's own hidden-clue game, with our own word list and daily puzzles. It is not affiliated with the original Hardle or with Wordle.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hardle?

A five-letter word game where the right-spot and wrong-spot clues use two styles that trade meaning from day to day. You get eight guesses, and part of the puzzle is working out what each style means.

How do you play Hardle?

Guess a five-letter word. Gray letters are not in the word. Lit letters show as solid or ring tiles: one means right spot, the other wrong spot. Use your first rows to tell them apart, then solve as usual.

How hard is Hardle?

Harder than a normal round, mostly early on, because a lit letter may or may not be in place. That is why you get eight guesses instead of six. Once you know which style means right spot, it plays like the usual game.