Hurdle
A daily word puzzle from Arkadium that chains five rounds together. You solve four separate five-letter words with six guesses each, then the game feeds those four answers into a final round where only two guesses remain.
Hurdle takes the basic Wordle format and stacks it. Instead of one word a day you work through five connected puzzles, and the answers you find along the way are handed back to you as clues for the last one. It is free to play in a browser and gives you a fresh set of words every day.
What is Hurdle?
The daily run breaks into two parts. The first four puzzles play like a standard word game: a hidden five-letter word, six guesses, and color feedback after every guess. Green marks a correct letter in the correct spot, yellow marks a letter that belongs in the word but sits in the wrong place, and grey marks a letter that is not in the word at all. Each of the four words is separate, so you clear them one after another.
The fifth puzzle is where the format earns its name. When you reach it, the grid is already filled with the four words you just solved, sitting in the top four rows. Those pre-filled answers act as clues: their colors narrow down the final word before you type anything. What is left is two guesses to land the fifth word, which raises the pressure since there is little room to recover from a wrong read.
Because the last word inherits four rows of feedback, Hurdle rewards reading the board carefully rather than opening with a memorized starter. By the final round you often know several confirmed letters and positions, so the real work is fitting them into a valid word inside two attempts. The earlier rounds still reward a strong opener that spreads common vowels and consonants, but the finale leans more on deduction than fresh guessing.
Arkadium built Hurdle and licenses it to a number of partner sites, so you may see the same daily puzzle on Dictionary.com and AARP, among others. The version on Arkadium's own site is the direct source. It runs in a browser with no download or account required, and a new set of five words appears each day.
How to play Hurdle
- Type a five-letter word and submit it as your first guess in the opening round.
- Read the colors after each guess: green means the right letter in the right spot, yellow means the letter is in the word but misplaced, and grey means the letter is not in the word.
- Use those clues to solve the word within six guesses, then move on to the next of the first four puzzles.
- In the fifth and final round, the four answers you already found fill the top rows as clues, so study that feedback first.
- Solve the final word using only your two remaining guesses.
Tips and strategy
- Open the first four rounds with a word that mixes common vowels and consonants, such as CRANE or SLATE, to light up the board quickly.
- Before you type in the final round, study the four pre-filled rows; they often confirm two or three letters and their positions.
- With only two guesses in the finale, consider spending the first one to confirm an uncertain letter rather than gambling on the whole word.
- Solve the first four words accurately, since weak answers give you weaker clues heading into the final round.
Good to know
- Type
- Daily word puzzle
- Rounds per day
- Five (four standard words plus one final word)
- Guesses
- Six per word for rounds one to four, two for the final word
- Word length
- Five letters
- Reset
- New set of words each day
- Cost
- Free, no account required
- Publisher
- Arkadium
- Platforms
- Browser (Arkadium plus licensed partner sites)
Hurdle FAQ
Is Hurdle free to play?
Yes. Hurdle runs in a browser at no cost, and you do not need an account to play the daily puzzle.
How many words do you solve each day?
Five. You solve four separate five-letter words first, then a final word that uses those four answers as clues.
How does the final round work?
When you reach the fifth puzzle, the four words you already solved fill the top four rows of the grid. Their colors point you toward the answer, and you have two guesses left to solve it.
How many guesses do you get?
Six guesses for each of the first four words, and two guesses for the final word after the earlier answers are filled in.
Does Hurdle reset every day?
Yes. A new set of five words appears each day, so you can come back for a fresh run.
Who made Hurdle?
Arkadium created and publishes Hurdle. It also appears on partner sites such as Dictionary.com and AARP, but the puzzle is the same each day.