# Gild — Daily Word Game — Word ladders, gilded daily

> Word ladders, gilded daily (iPhone/iPad app by Michael McCrary.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gild-daily-word-game/id6796522572 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Michael McCrary](https://appshunter.io/developer/6796522726)
- Category: Games, Puzzle, Word
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 12 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-10-27
- Data updated: 2026-10-31

## What is Gild?

Transform one word into another, one letter at a time.

COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM. 

Every step must be a real word. Every day, everyone gets the same ladder — and the same par.

HOW IT PLAYS
Tap a letter, change it, and step down the ladder. Reach the target in par steps with no hints and the puzzle is Gilded. Within two steps of par is Silver. Finish at all and it's Lead — the gold is still in there tomorrow.

PAR IS THE PROMISE
Par is the true shortest path, computed against the full dictionary before the puzzle ships. It can be matched, never beaten. There is no luck and no hidden information: every letter is on the board, and the only question is whether you can find the route. Clean solves — no hints, no undos — earn a flourish and a four-point star on your share.

MADE TO BE FAIR
• Every puzzle is hand-curated and solvable in common words. You will never need a word you don't know to hit par.
• Any real word is accepted along the way — the validation list is large so you're never told a word isn't a word.
• Undo is free. Think on the board.
• Hints exist for hard days and protect your streak. They cap the result at Silver.

ONE A DAY, FOR EVERYONE
• The daily is free, forever. A new ladder arrives at midnight, your time.
• Monday is gentle; Sunday is the long five-letter climb.
• Streaks, stats, and streak freezes — earn a freeze with every seven solves, and it covers a missed day automatically.
• Share a spoiler-free result: the pair, your tier, and a grid that shows where each letter changed — never which letter.
• Practice mode is free and unlimited, in three difficulty bands.

GILD PRO
One purchase, no subscription: replay every daily ever published from the archive, and bank three streak freezes instead of one. The daily puzzle never goes behind it.

NO ADS. NO ACCOUNT. NO TRACKING.
Gild collects no data. Your streak syncs between your own devices through iCloud and goes nowhere else.

INVENTED 1877
Lewis Carroll called the puzzle Doublets, and his first was LEAD → GOLD. Gild is that puzzle, reborn for iPhone — and LEAD → GOLD is your first ladder.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gild Pro | $4.99 | one-time |


## Is Gild safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Gild.

## Is Gild legit?

Gild — Daily Word Game has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Gild is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 1 release)

### 1.0 — 2026-10-28

No release notes.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-31.*