I love playing word games in English and frequently play the popular word game Wordle. Thinking that it would be fun to try the game in Greek, I came across two different options based on the original game. One of these is ΛΕΧΛΗ and the other is ΛΕΧΟΥΛΑ.

Having a limited Greek vocabulary, I needed a different strategy than I use when playing in English. My strategy has yielded a 73% win rate for 293 games on ΛΕΧΛΗ and a 79% win rate for 213 games on ΛΕΧΟΥΛΑ.

Even if I don’t win, I feel like I’ve won because in playing the game I learn a lot about spelling in Greek and am introduced to new words. Want to try my strategy? Keep reading. If you want to build your own strategy, stop reading now.

The First Three Words

I play the same first three words almost every time. The words are: ΝΥΧΤΑ, ΜΠΟΡΩ and ΘΕΛΕΙ. In approximately 4% of the games, the first two words give me enough letters to find the target word.

With my three starter words, 14 distinct letters are used and about 20% of the time, I get enough letters to find the target word on the fourth try. I don’t always know the meaning of the word, but Greek spelling is phonetic enough that I can figure it out and then look up the meaning.

The Fourth Word

For the fourth guess, I use one of two choices. If α or ο is found in the target word, I use the guess ΔΑΣΟΣ. That gets me the sigma and possibly the correct placement of one or both vowels.

If neither of those vowels in the target word, I guess ΦΥΣΗΣ. This introduces three new letters to the mix and only repeats one letter from earlier attempts.

I figure out the word correctly about 30% of the time on the fifth guess. In total, by the fifth word, this strategy yields a win rate of over 50%.

Fifth and Sixth Words

If I haven’t won by this point, the strategy becomes trying words with similar spelling patterns or, if I have only one letter missing, I’ll try every letter that remains available. Not much of a strategy, but it works and gets me a win about 20% of the time on the sixth word.

The Benefits of Playing

Playing games is fun! Beyond that, playing the game has improved my spelling in Greek, has increased my understanding of Greek spelling rules and has introduced me to new Greek vocabulary. A win – win situation, even if I lose the game!

Do you like to play Greek word games? Do you have your own strategy?