How to play Poople (and Poople Unlimited)

Poople is a word ladder: change one letter at a time, keep every word real, and reach POOP in as few guesses as you can. Here are the rules, some strategy, and what's different on this site.

Look at the starting word

Every puzzle begins with a four-letter word. Today's word is the same for everyone; in unlimited mode it is random.

Change exactly one letter

Type a new four-letter word that differs from the previous word in exactly one position. BARN → BORN is allowed; BARN → BURN is allowed; BARN → BOND is not (two letters changed).

Every word must be real

Your word has to be in the dictionary. Proper nouns and abbreviations don't count. If it isn't accepted you'll see "Not in word list".

Get to POOP

Keep going until your word is POOP. Letters that already sit in the right place for POOP are highlighted along the way.

Fewest guesses wins

Your score is the number of words you typed. After you finish you'll see the shortest possible ladder, so you know how close you came to perfect.

Strategy tips

Aim for the O's first. POOP has two O's in the middle. Words like LOOP, HOOP, COOP, POOL and POOR are one step from POOP, so steer toward an -OO- word.
Common letters are flexible. Words with common letters (S, T, R, L, N, E, A) have many neighbours and give you more room to turn.
Watch the highlight. A highlighted letter is already where POOP needs it. Don't change it unless you're stuck.
Use undo. On Poople Unlimited you can back out of a dead end. A wrong turn costs nothing but the guess.
Learn from the shortest path. After each game, look at the best ladder. The same bridges (like LOOP, COOP, PROP, PLOP) come up again and again.

What's different from the original?

The original Poople at poople.io has one puzzle a day and no way to practise. Poople Unlimited adds unlimited puzzles in three difficulties, a playable archive, undo, hints, a solver, and a page with today's official answer for when you're stuck on the real thing.