In traditional face-to-face competition, two players alternate in trying to guess the opponent’s hidden word, and the game ends when one player succeeds. In this computer version, only the computer has a hidden word, and you have 15 turns to guess it.
The hidden word consists of five letters with none repeated (e.g. “”wades”” is valid but “”waded”” is not). Your guesses must also contain five different letters, and to play fairly you must use only English words. In the registered verion, the program will warn you before accepting a word that is not in its wordlist. The shareware version has no way of knowing if you have entered a word that does not exist.
To submit a guess, simply type it in the edit box (in upper or lower case) and press Enter.
After each guess, the computer shows your word with a figure beside it. This figure is the number of letters in the guess that match letters in the hidden word. Position is not relevant to the count. For example, if the hidden word was “”great”” and you guessed “”grate””, the count would be 5. Note that in this case you still haven’t won; you have to guess the hidden word with the letters in the correct order.
To give up, choose New Game from the File menu. The hidden word for the last game will be revealed.”
Another thing that really makes Jotto enjoyable for me is how it manages to stay interesting even after playing it multiple times. Many games feel repetitive after a while, but here, the experience still feels fresh because of the small details and different ways you can approach the gameplay. As you continue playing, you naturally start improving and understanding the mechanics better, which makes everything feel more rewarding. I also appreciate the balance the game maintains—it’s not too difficult, but it’s not too easy either. You can play it casually for a short break or spend longer sessions without getting bored. That flexibility is one of the biggest reasons why I keep coming back to Jotto. Overall, it’s the kind of game that doesn’t just entertain you for a moment, but actually gives you a consistently enjoyable experience every time you play.
