Wordbull

About Wordbull

Wordbull, by danblack, is a browser word game with a numbered puzzle each day. It looks like Wordle at first: a grid of five-letter rows and an on-screen keyboard. The difference is in the feedback. Instead of colouring each tile, the game puts a set of icons beside the row: a bull for every correct letter in the correct place and a cow for every correct letter in the wrong place.

The tricky part is working out which letters the bulls and cows belong to. The help screen gives an example: if the word were ADOPT, a guess of HAPPY would score one bull and two cows, the cows for the A and the first P and the bull for the second P. A guess with no correct letters at all gets a cross, which is useful because it rules out all five letters at once. To keep track, you can tap letters of your earlier guesses to toggle them on and off, and you have eight guesses in all.

As well as the daily word, you can challenge a friend: type any valid five-letter word and copy a link that sets it as their puzzle. A practice button gives you random challenges if you want more before the next day's word. There is also a statistics screen.

Wordbull is free to play on its own site and on itch.io.

How to play Wordbull

1. Open Wordbull and type a five-letter word, then press Enter.
2. Count the bulls (right letter, right place) and cows (right letter, wrong place) beside your guess.
3. Use a cross, meaning no correct letters, to rule out all five of those letters.
4. Tap letters in earlier guesses to mark them as you work out which ones scored.
5. Find the word within eight guesses.

Screenshots

Tips

• An early guess that scores a cross is valuable: it removes five letters at once.
• Change one or two letters between guesses so you can tell which letter caused a change in the score.
• Repeated letters can score both a bull and a cow, as the HAPPY example shows.
• Use practice mode to learn the logic before taking on the daily word.

Questions