What is Levenshtein?
Levenshtein is a word-guessing game built on edit distance. You type a word, and the game returns a number: the total insertions, deletions, and substitutions needed to transform your guess into the secret word. Your goal is to reach zero. Unlike grid-based games, there is no length requirement for your guesses.
How to play Levenshtein
- Choose Daily Challenge for the daily word, or Free Play for unlimited rounds.
- Enter any word and select Guess. The word can be any length.
- The number on the right shows how many edits separate your guess from the solution.
- Use the letter colors to see what to change, then submit another guess.
- Keep revising your guesses until the distance reaches zero. Select New game to start over.
Reading the feedback
Each guess appears as a row of small tiles, one per letter, with a distance number on the right. Green marks a letter correctly placed. Gray indicates a letter that must be replaced. Red marks a letter to delete. A blue '+' sign shows where a letter should be inserted. The legend below the board explains these four codes. A counter at the top tracks the number of guesses used.
Why play Levenshtein?
The single-number feedback is simple yet rich. Most word games ask you to reason position by position. Levenshtein asks you to reason about the entire word. Two very different guesses can produce similar distances, and you solve the puzzle by combining their color signals. Because length is free, your opening guess becomes a tactical choice.
Game modes
Daily Challenge
One secret word per day, shared by all players. Solve it in as few guesses as possible and share your result.
Free Play
Unlimited games at your own pace. A new word is drawn for each round.
Tips and strategy
- Insertions and deletions count toward the distance. A deliberately short word returns a number that includes missing letters, which helps estimate the solution's length before finding correct letters.
- Blue '+' markers are the most direct clue. They indicate not only that a letter is missing but also the exact position where it belongs.
- A green letter is locked in position. Build your next guess around it rather than starting from scratch to save turns.
Popular questions
Do you need to propose words of the same length as the solution?
No. The field accepts any word. Both insertions and deletions count toward the distance returned.
Does Free Play replay the word of the day?
No. Free Play draws a new word each round, independent of the Daily Challenge, which offers a single word shared by all players.