How to Play Costcodle

The goal of Costcodle

Every day COSTCODLE shows you one product from the Costco warehouse. Your job is to guess its price in 6 tries or fewer.

Land within 5% of the real price and you win.

You get a photo of the item, its full name and the pack size, the same details you'd see on the shelf tag. You don't need to be exact. On a $20 item, anything from $19 to $21 counts. On a $300 TV, you have a $30 window to hit. If you use all six guesses without getting there, the game shows you the real price and the round is over.

How to play a round of Costcodle

1. Look at the product photo, name and pack size.
2. Type a price in dollars, like 12.99. No $ sign needed.
3. Press SUBMIT or hit Enter.
4. Read the hint, adjust, and guess again.

Anything that isn't a number shows "Invalid Guess" and doesn't use up a try.

Commas are fine, so 1,299 works the same as 1299. Whole numbers are fine too: 13 is read as $13.00. The counter above the input box shows which guess you're on, from 1/6 to 6/6. Each guess is saved as soon as you submit it, so you can close the tab and come back later the same day without losing your place.

How to read Costcodle hints

The arrow tells you which way to go:

• ↑ the real price is higher
• ↓ the real price is lower

The color tells you how far off you are:

• more than 25% away
• within 25%
• within 5%, you win!

Both percentages are measured against the real price, not your guess. For a product that costs $20, the bands look like this:

• Green: $19 to $21
• Yellow: $15 to $25, outside the green band
• Red: under $15 or over $25

So a red hint means you need a big jump, and a yellow hint means you're in the right neighborhood and should move in smaller steps. The arrow and color always come together, which means every guess gives you a direction and a rough distance.

Example round

Say the product costs $24.99.

Way too low (more than 25% under). Go higher.

Too high, but within 25%. Getting close.

About 4% off. That's inside 5%, so you win!

Here's the thinking behind the third guess. A yellow down arrow on $30 means $30 is no more than 25% above the real price, so the price has to be at least $24. Add the down arrow and the answer sits somewhere between $24 and $30. A guess near the bottom of that range, $26, was enough. Three guesses, three hints, and two tries to spare.

Sharing your Costcodle score

When a round ends, the input box turns into a Share button. On a phone it opens your share sheet. On a computer it copies your result to the clipboard so you can paste it into a group chat. The example round above would share like this:

Costcodle #123 3/6
⬆️🟥
⬇️🟨
✅

Your guesses stay hidden, so you can post it without spoiling the price for anyone. A loss shows as X/6.

Daily Costcodle vs Costcodle Unlimited

Daily is one shared puzzle for everyone. A new one shows up around midnight, your local time.

Costcodle Unlimited lets you keep playing random past products, as many as you like. It never gives away today's daily product and keeps its own separate stats.

The rules and hints are the same in both modes. Most people play the daily puzzle first, then press the Unlimited button on the end screen to keep going. Unlimited is also the best way to learn how to play Costcodle before you put a daily streak on the line.

Stats and streaks

Tap the chart icon or open your stats to see games played, win %, your current and best streak, and how many guesses your wins took.

A loss, or leaving a daily puzzle unfinished, resets your current streak. Stats live in your browser, so clearing site data or switching devices starts you fresh.

The guess distribution chart is the most useful part. If most of your wins land on guess 5 or 6, you're probably spending too many tries finding the ballpark. Open closer to the middle of the usual range and use the bracketing tip below to cut a guess or two off each round.

Costcodle tips and strategy

• Check the pack size. Costco sells in bulk.
• Open with a round number to find the ballpark fast.
• After a yellow hint, move in small steps. You only need to be within 5%.
• Most prices end in .99 or .49, but that doesn't matter here.

Think in unit prices. A 5 lb bag of chicken nuggets or a 72-count box of pizza bites looks expensive until you work out the price per pound or per piece. If you know what a small pack costs at your grocery store, scale it up and take a bit off for the bulk discount.

Bracket the answer. Once you have one guess that's too low and one that's too high, the price is between them. Guess in the middle and keep splitting the gap. Most rounds take three or four guesses this way.

Don't overreact to red. Red only tells you that you're more than 25% away. If you guessed $10 and got a red up arrow, try around $15 to $20 before jumping to $50. Most products cost under $20, so start low unless the photo shows a TV, a grill or furniture.

Watch for Kirkland Signature. Costco's house brand is usually priced below the name brand next to it, so shade your guess down a little.

FAQ

Are these real prices?

They are US Costco warehouse prices at the time the product was added. Prices vary by region and change over time.

When does a new Costcodle come out?

Around midnight, your local time. Everyone gets the same product that day.

What happens if I run out of guesses?

The game shows the real price, the round counts as a loss and your current streak goes back to zero.

Can I play yesterday's puzzle?

Not directly, but Unlimited serves up past products at random.

Why did my streak reset?

Either you lost a round, or you started a daily puzzle and didn't finish it before the next one came out. Playing in a different browser or a private window can also look like a reset, because your stats are stored in the browser you play in.

Do I need an account?

No. Just open the page and play.

Can I play Costcodle on my phone?

Yes. Costcodle runs in any phone, tablet or desktop browser, and it's free. There's nothing to download.

Thanks

Special thanks to TRADLE and Wordle for inspiring COSTCODLE!