---
title: "Mutato: free online game, a new grid every day · SIWA"
description: "Mutato is a free online word ladder game where you turn one word into another by changing one letter at each step, going only through real words, with a new ladder every day."
canonical_url: "https://dev.siwa.io/en/games/mutato"
locale: en
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---
> Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://dev.siwa.io/llms.txt)
PORTEPERTEPERLE
Word game
# Mutato
One letter at a time, word to word
Mutato is a free online word ladder game where you turn one word into another by changing one letter at each step, going only through real words, with a new ladder every day.
- Duration
- 1–3 min
- Difficulty
- Easy to medium
- Skill
- Vocabulary and planning
- Price
- Free
[Play now — for free](https://play.dev.siwa.io/game/mutato)
This word game is played in French.
Cible
P
A
R
C
Valide ton mot
P
A
R
T
P
O
R
T
M
O
R
T
Départ
## How to play?
A word ladder: go from the start word to the target word by changing a single letter at each step, and every step must be a real word. MORT becomes PORT, then PART, then PARC. The game shows how many steps the shortest ladder takes: your job is to find it, with no detours.
1. 1
Tap the letter to change in the bottom row: it starts as the last word played.
2. 2
Type the new letter, then confirm. The word must exist, otherwise it is turned down without costing a step.
3. 3
Climb word by word up to the target, shown at the top of the ladder.
4. 4
Reach the target in the optimal number of steps for a perfect run. Past a set number of steps, the game is lost.
## Why play?
- Builds vocabulary: every step makes you look for a word's neighbours.
- Trains planning: the right letter to change isn't always the obvious one.
- A short game, perfect for a break.
## Tips
- Compare the start and the target letter by letter: the letters they already share can often stay put until the end.
- When no letter leads straight towards the target, change one that opens up more neighbours: vowels are often the key.
- A step that seems to move away from the target is sometimes the only way: the shortest ladder now and then detours through a letter found in neither word.
- Undo removes the last word, but the step still counts: better to think before confirming than to grope around.
- Stuck? The joker shows which letter to change to stay on a shortest ladder. It costs a few points, fewer than a long run of extra steps.
## Frequently asked questions
How do you play Mutato?
Start from the start word, at the bottom of the ladder. At each step, tap a letter, type another one and confirm: the new word must exist. Repeat until you reach the target word, shown at the top, in as few steps as possible.
Is Mutato free?
Yes. Mutato is free to play in the browser, on desktop and mobile, with nothing to download. Today's ladder can be played without an account. A free account unlocks the archive of past days, and SIWA+ (€18 a year) removes ads and adds advanced stats.
What is a word ladder?
The word ladder is a game devised by Lewis Carroll in the late 1870s under the name Doublets: you link two words through a chain of words that each differ by a single letter. Mutato takes the same idea as a daily game, with an optimal number of steps to match, a score and a leaderboard.
Which words does Mutato accept?
Every word in the French dictionary, plurals and conjugated forms included, ignoring accents. The ladder itself only goes through common words, and the optimal step count shown takes every accepted word into account: no rare word lets you beat it.
Does Mutato get harder on some days?
Yes. On weekdays, words have 5 letters and the shortest ladder takes 4 or 5 steps. On Sundays, they grow to 6 letters, with 5 to 7 steps and fewer neighbouring words. Every step beyond the optimum costs points, and so does the joker.
## Play now Mutato
One letter at a time, word to word
On your phone, no app needed: it all plays in the browser.
[Play now — for free](https://play.dev.siwa.io/game/mutato)
## Similar games
[TTIGTIGRETusmoFind the mystery word in 6 tries](https://dev.siwa.io/en/games/tusmo)
[LOMNEMELONMelimeloRebuild the 5 scrambled words](https://dev.siwa.io/en/games/melimelo)
[PASIETROUBCAPLGRelioLink adjacent letters to build words](https://dev.siwa.io/en/games/relio)
[Play Mutato](https://play.dev.siwa.io/game/mutato)
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```
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