To transform one 4-letter word into another 4-letter word by means of substituting one letter at a time until the transformation is complete. Each time you substitute a letter, you must spell a new word. That's the easy part. The tricky part is—you have to get from the start word to the finish word using the fewest number of transformations. That's your goal, whether you're competing with other people, or just challenging yourself. This text will help you get started by introducing you to the thought process that will soon become addictive!

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME

Lets start with a simple example: To change slob into snob is achieved by substituting the consonant n for the consonant l in the second letter position. That is a single transformation.

To change slob into knob, however, requires two transformations, because two letters have to be changed: the s in the first position, and the l in the second. The ob remains.

To complete the Morflet® slob:knob, you might turn slob into klob and klob into knob, but klob is not a real word, is it? So you have to try a different route. Change slob into snob and then snob into knob, and now you have successfully completed a Morflet®!

Now lets change slob into knit. Here you notice that all four letters have changed, so you know going it's going to take at least four transformations, and maybe more. We already know slob becomes snob, which becomes knob. We know that the o in the third position must become an i, and that the b in the fourth position must become a t. The obvious choice is to create knot first (because knib isn't a real word) and finish with knit. Four transformations.

Is this the only way to go from slob to knit? Of course not. That's the beauty of Morflets®: there are always a variety of solutions, and usually—but not always!—more than one "shortest" solution.

Here are a few alternate solutions for the Morflet® slob:knit, including our first example. The transitions are color-coded and bold:

No doubt you can come up with some solutions of your own. Beginners often need more than the fewest number of transformations. As you gain experience, you might even discover a shorter solution than the gamemaker's!

But what if the consonants and vowels are not in the same positions? In clay:form, for example, the a in clay is in the third position, whereas in form the o is in the second position. Since you can only change one letter at a time, and since there are no words consisting of four consonants, logic tells us that there must be a transition word with two vowels in the second and third positions. The l in clay must sooner or later become an o, and the a in clay must become an r. So it only makes sense to think of transitions that include a word with oa or oo in the middle!

Here are a few alternate solutions for the Morflet® clay:form, some that take more transitions than others. The letter changes are highlighted:

In this example, the last solution would be the best because it took only six transformations while the others took seven. Part of the success is knowing that "cloy" and "coot" are real words.

SECRETS TO SUCCESS (PSSST! DON'T TELL ANYONE!)

The most challenging Morflets® require changing positions of consonants and vowels, ie: a vowel in the second position in the start word must become a consonant in the finish word. Or vice-versa. As a general rule, the positioning is more significant than the actual vowel. So in the Morflet® even:odds, the first letter position change from e to o is less important than the third letter position change from a vowel to a consonant (e to d). Start your thinking there: ask yourself "Can I make a word changing the consonant to a vowel, and if so, can I then change the vowel or consonant if need be later?" In this case, the answer would be yes. Odds can become odes. Then ask yourself "Can I or should I change even to a word that can more easily be transformed to odes?" Again the answer is yes. Even can become eves. Now you are looking to transform eves:odes. Much easier! You can look to do simple switching of one vowel to another vowel and one consonant to another consonant. Here eves can become aves and odes can become ades and you are done:

Only 5 transitions! Way to go!