Tuxdle Help 🐧
Tuxdle is a daily word-guessing game for people who live in the terminal. Every puzzle's answer is something from the Linux world — a command, an app, a distro, a desktop environment, or a bit of Linux jargon. If you've played Wordle, you already know how to play.
How to play
- You get 6 guesses to find the day's word.
- Word length isn't fixed — it rotates: puzzles are 4, 5, or 6 letters long depending on the day.
- On Sundays, there's an extra 7-letter puzzle on top of the regular one. This bonus puzzle is Pro-only.
- Type any word of the right length — there's no dictionary check, so guess anything you like, including words that aren't "real." Press Enter to submit each guess.
- After each guess, letters are marked:
- 🟩 Green — correct letter, correct spot
- 🟨 Yellow — correct letter, wrong spot
- ⬛ Gray — letter isn't in the word
- A new puzzle drops every day at UTC midnight, same time for everyone, everywhere. No local timezones.
Logging in — and why you'd want to
You can play Tuxdle without an account. Your progress is tracked on your device automatically, so anonymous play works fine for casual players.
Logging in is optional, but here's what it unlocks:
- Your progress follows you. Play on your phone in the morning and your laptop at night — logged in, it's the same game state either way. Play as a guest and your stats live only in that one browser; clear your cookies or switch devices and they're gone.
- It's how you go Pro. Buying Pro requires an account, since your purchase has to be tied to something more durable than a browser.
- 7 days of Pro, free. Every new account gets a free Pro pass for its first 7 days, so you can try everything before deciding to buy. No card needed, and you're never charged: when it ends, you're simply back on the free version.
- Real stats and streaks. Your win percentage, guess distribution, and streaks are worth more when they can't be reset by an accidental cache clear.
There's no password to remember. Enter your email, and we send a magic link — click it, and you're in. That's the whole flow.
If you've been playing anonymously and then log in, your existing progress on that device is automatically merged into your new account, so you don't lose your streak.
Pro membership
Tuxdle Pro is a one-time purchase, lifetime membership — no subscriptions, no recurring charges. Pay once, keep it forever.
What Pro gets you
- The Sunday bonus puzzle. The extra 7-letter word every Sunday is Pro-only.
- Hint 2, anytime. Free users have to unlock hint 2 by making 3 guesses first; Pro users can grab it whenever they want.
- Hint 3. The most direct hint is Pro-only, unlocked after your second guess.
- Reveal the answer after a loss. If you use all 6 guesses and don't get it, Pro users can see the answer immediately instead of stewing on it until tomorrow.
How to get it
- Log in first — you need an account before you can purchase Pro (see the login section above for why, and how easy it is).
- Head to the Pro upgrade link/button in the app.
- Complete checkout — it's a one-time payment, not a subscription.
- Your account is upgraded automatically as soon as payment goes through. No further action needed.
Not sure yet? New accounts get Pro free for 7 days. Since you can try it first, purchases are final; see the refund policy.
If you paid another way and your account hasn't been upgraded, or anything else related to Pro looks off, email support@tuxdle.com and we'll sort it out.
Hints — how they work
There are three hint levels, and each one gives you more to go on. All hints are optional — nothing is ever shown automatically, you have to click to reveal.
| Hint | What it shows | Free users | Pro users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hint 1 | The word's category (e.g. "Linux command") | Unlocked after guess 1 | Available from the start |
| Hint 2 | A vague clue about the word | Unlocked after guess 3 | Available from the start |
| Hint 3 | A direct clue about the word | Pro only (free during your 7-day Pro pass) | Unlocked after guess 2 |
The hint buttons are always visible, but they're dimmed and locked until they're available — once a hint unlocks, its button lights up so you know you can use it. Using a hint is entirely up to you and is never shown in your shareable result grid, so nobody can tell from your share whether you used one.
If you fail a puzzle (use all 6 guesses without getting it):
- Pro users can reveal the answer right away.
- Logged-in free users are offered Pro to reveal the answer (it's included in your free 7-day Pro pass).
- Anonymous (not logged in) users are prompted to log in, which also starts their free 7-day Pro pass.
Categories
Every word belongs to one of six categories. The category itself is hint 1, so knowing how they're defined can help you narrow things down early.
Linux command
ping, unzip, unameA single, simple command — typically part of GNU coreutils or similarly basic tooling. Full-fledged tools or services aren't counted here even if you can technically run them from a terminal (Docker and Nginx, for example, are not "Linux commands" in Tuxdle's sense).
Linux application
tmux, netcat, opensshSomething that's more than a simple command — an application or tool with more surface area, even if it's used from the terminal.
Linux term
grub, fstab, daemon, syslogGeneral terminology you run into around the Linux ecosystem — concepts, files, or components rather than commands or apps.
Desktop environment
GNOME, Budgie, HyprlandDesktop environments and window managers.
Linux distribution
Ubuntu, Fedora, OmarchyLinux distros, including well-known ones from the past that aren't actively maintained anymore.
Package manager
pacman, zypper, flatpakTools used to install and manage software packages. This overlaps conceptually with "Linux term" but gets its own category since it comes up so often.
Archive
Missed a day, or just want to revisit an old puzzle? The Archive lets you browse and (re)play past puzzles.
- It opens on the 20 most recent puzzles, newest first. Tap Browse by month to pick any month — only months that actually had puzzles are shown.
- Each past puzzle is marked with how you did:
- 🟩 Green + success emoji — you solved it
- 🟥 Red + fail emoji — you played and didn't solve it
- ⬜ Neutral — attempted-but-unfinished, or not played at all
- If you're playing anonymously, your archive history comes from your device's local storage — so it's tied to that browser, same as your regular stats. Logging in keeps that history with your account instead.
- The archive only goes back as far as Tuxdle's launch date — there's no puzzle #0.
Statistics
The Statistics popup shows how you're doing over time:
- Played — total puzzles you've completed (won or lost)
- Win rate — the percentage of played puzzles you've won
- Streak — your current run of consecutive daily wins
- Max streak — the longest streak you've ever had
- Guess distribution — a bar chart showing how many of your wins happened on guess 1, 2, 3, and so on
A couple of things worth knowing:
- Stats only count the regular daily puzzle toward your streak — a Sunday Pro win doesn't extend or break it (though it still counts toward played/win rate/distribution).
- If you just haven't played today's puzzle yet, your current streak stays intact rather than resetting to zero — it only breaks once a day passes without a win.
- Only puzzles solved on their own day (UTC) count toward your streak — solving a past puzzle from the archive doesn't fill a gap.
- Like the archive, stats are tied to your device if you're playing anonymously, and tied to your account once you log in.
- Separately, each puzzle shows how everyone did: how many people played it and what percentage solved it. You'll see this above the board on larger screens, and in the result popup on every device once you finish. It appears only after at least 10 people have solved the puzzle, so a handful of early players can't skew it.
Badges
Open Statistics → View your badges to see what you've earned and what's next.
- Solved badges — solve the daily puzzle 3, 5, 7, 10 and 30 days in a row.
- Played badges — play the daily puzzle (win or lose) 3, 7, 10, 30, 50, 100 and 365 days in a row.
- Month badges — play every daily puzzle of a calendar month, starting October 2026.
Only puzzles played on their own day (UTC) count; archive replays and the Sunday Pro puzzle don't. If you play anonymously and then log in, your progress on that device moves to your account. Tap an earned badge to share it.
Questions?
Something not covered here, or something not working right? Email support@tuxdle.com and we'll help out.