Word Ladder

The game

Deep in an alchemist's lab, the Great Work is a word puzzle: transmute the base word into the apex word — cat into dog, tin into sky, king into lake — by changing exactly one letter per brass rung. Every intermediate you climb must be a true word of the Codex, the game's embedded offline dictionary, and the pair reshuffles each run. Stuck? The ink-bottle mana lets the cauldron brew your next rung for you, but each bottled rung costs dearly against your gold. A clean par run ends in a golden ELIXIR BREWED! celebration over the glowing ladder.

How to play

• Press Enter (or click BEGIN THE ASCENT) to start a run; the goal pair is shown on the brass plaque, e.g. CAT → DOG.
• Type a word that differs from the rung below by exactly one letter, then press Enter to climb it — it must be a real word from the Codex.
• Reach the apex word to brew the elixir: rungs count against par, and a par-perfect run scores 100 for a GOLD DISTILLATION rating; 55–89 earns SILVER, below that BRONZE.
• Press / (or click an ink bottle) to auto-brew the next rung — three bottles per ladder, each hint costs 25 points.
• Backspace edits your typed word; . resets the current pair; Esc pauses (P or Esc resumes).
• On touch screens a letter keyboard appears — tap letters, then ✓ to climb, × to clear, ⌕ to delete.