HP: 10 / 10 Round 1 / 20
SURVIVE

How to Play & Strategy

1. Enter Your Guess: Type a 5-letter word or use the on-screen keyboard.

2. Avoid the Word: Unlike other word games, you're trying to avoid the secret word. The closer your guess is to it, the more damage you take. Survive all twenty rounds and win the day.

3. Watch Your HP: 🟢 Green = Safe (0 damage)  |  🟠 Orange = In the word, wrong place (-1 HP)  |  🔴 Red = Direct hit (-2 HP)

4. Safe-Letter Decay: Safe letters no longer disappear. Once a safe letter is exposed, using it decays it, and each following round adds passive decay too.

5. Toxic Spillover: Orange and red hits randomly expose or further decay safe letters that are not in the Toxic Word. Later rounds spread decay much faster.

6. Daily Challenge: A new word appears every day at midnight ET.

Use the Strategy Guide to avoid multi-hit letters and plan safe repeats.

🧠 Survival Strategy Guide

In this game, orange and red matches are TOXIC — they cost you HP!

  1. Multiple Instances (Friend or Foe): Avoid double letters until you know they are safe; they cause massive multi-hit damage. Repeating a safe letter also adds more decay, so spend those repeats carefully.
  2. Hunt the Obscure: Start with rare letters (X, Z, Q, J) to map out safe zones without taking damage and keep your strongest safe letters fresh.
  3. The Red Minefield: A 🔴 Red match costs 2 HP and spreads heavier decay pressure. If you know a letter's correct spot, avoid guessing it there at all costs.
  4. Sacrifice for Info: Sometimes it's worth taking 1 damage (🟠 Orange) to confirm a letter is toxic, helping you avoid it in later rounds before decay closes in.
  5. Watch the Squeeze: As more safe letters decay, your available vocabulary shrinks. Save your strongest safe vowels and consonants for the final rounds.
  6. Decay Bands: Early rounds expose or lightly decay safe letters. Rounds 11-17 punish exposed letters harder, and rounds 18-20 expose every remaining safe letter each turn.
  7. Read the Keyboard: Fresh safe letters start bright green. They darken toward imperial purple as decay builds, and at the final stages the charcoal background bleeds through. Toxic-word letters never decay.