How to play: the rules in one minute
Everything the tiles are trying to tell you - including the duplicate-letter rule most players learn the hard way.
The goal
A hidden word is chosen - five letters on the classic board. You have six guesses to find it. Every guess must be a real word from the game's dictionary; random letters are rejected before they cost you a turn. Type with your keyboard or tap the on-screen keys, then press Enter.
What the colors mean
- Green - the letter is in the word and sitting in the right spot. In the example, S starts the answer.
- Yellow - the letter is in the word but in a different position. The R belongs somewhere else.
- Gray - the letter is not in the word. T, O and M can be dropped from your thinking.
The on-screen keyboard remembers everything: keys turn green, yellow or gray as you learn about them, so you never have to re-read the board.
The duplicate-letter rule
This is the rule that trips up most players. A letter is only colored as many times as it appears in the answer. Say the answer is ABIDE (one E) and you guess SPEED (two Es): one E gets colored, the other stays gray. That gray duplicate is valuable information - it tells you the answer has exactly one E. The same logic applies to greens: if one copy is locked in green and your second copy shows gray, there is no second copy in the answer.
Hard mode
Flip on hard mode in Settings and the game holds you to your own discoveries: any green letter must stay in its position in every later guess, and any yellow letter must be used again somewhere. What it removes is the classic "coverage" trick of guessing a word full of brand-new letters while ignoring your clues. It typically adds about half a guess to your average - and a lot of tension. Our strategy guide has a section on hard-mode openers.
Daily vs unlimited
The Daily challenge is one shared puzzle per calendar day - the same word for everyone, everywhere, which is what makes comparing results fun. Solve it and your streak grows; miss it and the streak resets. The Unlimited mode deals a fresh word the moment a round ends, as many times as you like. If you have ever wished you could keep playing after the daily, that is exactly what it is for - more on that in playing more than once a day.
Board sizes
Beyond the classic five letters, Don't Just Guess has four more boards: 3-letter (the easy one - great for kids), 4-letter, 6-letter and 7-letter (the hard one). Same rules, same six guesses, very different puzzles.
Ending a round
Solve the word and the tiles dance; miss it and the answer is revealed. Either way you will see the word's dictionary definition (every answer you meet is saved to your word journal), your updated streak and win rate, and a Share button that copies your result as the familiar emoji grid - spoiler-free, it never reveals the answer. In unlimited mode, pressing Enter after a round starts the next one instantly.
Frequently asked questions
What do the tile colors mean?
Green means the letter is in the word and in the correct position. Yellow means the letter is in the word but in a different position. Gray means the letter is not in the word at all (or there are no more copies of it).
How are duplicate letters scored?
A letter is only colored as many times as it appears in the answer. If you guess SPEED and the answer has one E, only one of your Es turns yellow or green - the other stays gray. That gray on a duplicate tells you exactly how many copies the answer has.
What does hard mode do?
Hard mode forces you to use every clue you have found: green letters must stay in their position, and yellow letters must appear somewhere in each following guess. It removes the ability to burn a guess on pure letter coverage.
What happens if I do not solve it in six guesses?
The round ends and the answer is revealed along with its dictionary definition. In unlimited mode you can start a new word immediately; in daily mode your streak resets and a new puzzle arrives at midnight.