Race Friends in a 5 Letter Word Game Online

About Word Duel

Guessing a hidden five-letter word from coloured clues became a daily habit for millions of people after Wordle took off, and the obvious next question was how to play that kind of puzzle against someone else. Word Duel is our answer: the same style of deduction, turned into a live race over several rounds.

A match is five rounds. In each one every player works on their own board against the same secret word, with 90 seconds on the clock. After each guess a green tile means the right letter in the right place, yellow means the letter is in the word but elsewhere, and grey means it is not there at all. Repeated letters are marked correctly. You can see how many guesses your rivals have used and whether they have solved it, but never their letters.

Answers and accepted guesses both come from a curated list of a few hundred common words, with no proper nouns and no obscure vocabulary, so a guess outside that list is rejected and does not use up a turn. A round ends as soon as everyone has finished. You can also play alone as a timed puzzle, which makes it handy for practice.

How to play Word Duel

1. The aim is to finish five rounds with the highest score by solving each hidden five-letter word quickly and in few guesses.
2. All players receive the same secret word and have up to six guesses and 90 seconds per round.
3. Type a word with the keyboard or the on-screen keys and press Enter. Only words in the game's list are accepted.
4. Tiles turn green for a correct letter in the correct position, yellow for a letter that is in the word but in another position, and grey for a letter that is not in the word.
5. Solving the word scores 50 points, plus 15 for each guess you did not need, plus up to 30 for the time left on the clock.
6. The first player to solve a round earns an extra 30 points, the second 18, the third 10, and later solvers a little less.
7. The round ends when everyone has solved it or run out of guesses, or when the timer reaches zero. The word is then revealed.
8. After five rounds the highest total wins. Ties go to the player who used fewer guesses overall.

Rules checked against the game on 2026-09-01.

Word Duel tips and strategy

• Open with a word that covers common letters, such as crane, slate or raise. Three vowels or frequent consonants in the first row usually cuts the possibilities sharply.
• Do not waste a guess reusing grey letters. Every row should test something new unless you are confident of the answer.
• Weigh guesses against time. Each unused guess is worth 15 points while the whole speed bonus is 30, so a few seconds of thought that saves a row is nearly always a good trade.
• When several answers fit, such as a pattern ending in the same four letters, play a word that tests the differing letters together instead of trying each candidate in turn.
• Keep an eye on your rivals' progress. If nobody has solved it yet, the first-solver bonus is still available and a slightly risky guess can be justified.