How to play Puzzico

Guess the hidden five-letter word in six tries. Type any accepted word and press Enter; each letter then tells you something. A blue check (✓) means it’s correct and in the right place, a copper arrow (↔) means it’s in the word but somewhere else, and a grey dash (−) means there’s no remaining match for that letter — usually it isn’t in the word, though with a repeated letter it can mean there are no more copies. Use those clues to close in, guess by guess.

You can use a physical keyboard or the letters on screen. An accepted guess uses a turn; an incomplete word, an unrecognised word or a word already tried in that game does not. Read the whole row before choosing your next word. Check positions and repeated letters, then consider what your next word could reveal.

Repeated letters are matched one copy at a time, with exact positions checked first. A check and a dash on the same letter can therefore be consistent: the answer may contain the checked copy but no extra copy for the other square. The full rules show worked examples and explain how to resume an unfinished game. After finishing, use “View result & review” to read what each position told you.

Daily and Unlimited

Daily is one shared word for everyone, refreshing at 00:00 UTC with its own streak and stats. Prefer to keep going? Unlimited hands you a fresh practice word every time you finish — separate stats, no effect on your daily streak.

UTC is the shared reset clock, so the new Daily puzzle may arrive before or after midnight where you live. Switching to practice does not replace your Daily board. An active Daily game has a completion window of 24 hours from its first accepted guess; an active practice game has seven days. These windows describe how long a game remains playable, not how long its completed record is retained. Both modes use the same feedback rules and six-guess limit.

Use Daily for a shared puzzle to discuss after playing. Use Unlimited to try a different opener or practise reading duplicate letters. Practice statistics keep those experiments separate from your daily routine.

Stuck? Tools that help

• Word Solver — turn your correct, misplaced and absent-letter clues into a shortlist of words that fit.
• Five-letter word lists — browse by first letter, last letter, or a letter you know is in the word.
• Tips & strategy — opening-word comparisons and common mistakes to avoid.
• Past answers and FAQ — a look back at earlier words, and quick answers to common questions.

Choose the amount of help you want. A word list can supply an idea without selecting a move for you. The solver filters accepted guesses using the clues you enter; its results are not a reveal of the hidden answer. Keep the board nearby when checking a suggestion, especially when a letter appears more than once. Our strategy guides explain how to compare candidates and when a guess that gathers information can be useful.

Where the words come from

Puzzico’s current lists contain 12,653 accepted guesses and a smaller pool of 1,402 possible answers. The source dictionary is an-array-of-english-words, used under the MIT licence. The build keeps five-letter alphabetic entries, normalises their case and removes duplicates. Answers must haveapproved status in data/editorial-review.csv; every word in the current answer pool has that status. Being accepted as a guess does not, by itself, make a word a possible solution.

That distinction matters when an unfamiliar word appears in a search result. It may be a legal way to test letters without belonging to the answer pool. The editorial standards explain selection and feedback rules; Credits records the dictionary and software acknowledgements. Counts in the guides describe this word list, rather than player behaviour or every English dictionary.

Your browser record and privacy

Playing requires no account or email address. A randomly generated first-party cookie links your browser to its record; its value is hashed before saved games are associated with it. Accepted guesses and results are stored so you can return and see statistics. Games do not sync between devices or browsers. Clearing the cookie disconnects this browser from its record; it does not immediately erase that record from the server.

Use “Delete my game data” in Settings to remove the game records and feedback associated with your current cookie. Detailed game records are retained for up to 180 days. Contrast and motion preferences are stored locally. Advertising and analytics services may use separate identifiers; the privacy notice explains those services, retention and your choices.

Clues you can read without colour

The ✓, ↔ and − symbols remain visible, so colour is not the only way to read a row. Settings offers higher contrast with stronger outlines and darker feedback colours, plus reduced animation. The game also respects your system’s reduced-motion preference. These options change presentation while keeping the same puzzle and matching rules.

An independent word game

Puzzico is an independent five-letter word game with its own brand, interface and word list. It isn’t affiliated with any other word game or its publisher. No account, no download — just learn the rules and play.

The site is built and run by Jack Shi and operated by clooms. Read About Puzzico for the project’s ownership, approach to word selection and links to its editorial information.