It's true, Wordle is the daily brain teaser that we just can't quit. While everyone has their own hot take on why the word game resonates, the nub and gist of the matter is that its simple format and wholesome origins feel like a manageable challenge when compared to the raging world of chaos outside. Also, it's fun. More recently though, OG Wordle obsessives have noted that since the game was bought by The New York Times, it's become well...pretentious?
Instead of the easy endorphins secured by guessing 'point' or 'drink', our smooth brains are being tested with words like 'caulk' and 'tacit'. No fair and also, no fun. Also, to rub salt into the wound, we have no guarantee that The New York Times won't eventually hide Wordle behind a paywall. Either way, Wordle spinoffs like Heardle and Lewdle have managed to capture the spirit of the game in a way that has us caring less about our stats and winning streak, and more about whether the first two seconds of that song belong to Rude Boy by Rihanna.
So if you find yourself drifting from Wordle or fancy switching things up, below we've gathered a list of 7 other addictive games like Wordle, but with a spin.
Heardle
For the musically minded, Heardle describes itself as a ‘respectful homage to Wordle, with a musical twist’. The goal is to guess what song the two second snippet of sound belongs to. You have six guesses to get it right and each guess is timed. It sounds stressful but it's unsurprisingly a whole lot of fun. Tracks are selected seemingly at random from lists of popular artists across various decades. Previous tunes have come from Taylor Swift, OutKast and Ariana Grande.
Dordle
A two-headed beast. Think Wordle is a piece of cake? Dordle raises the pressure by doubling the original word game. It's kept the same green, blue and yellow tiles, but this time you have seven opportunities to guess both five-letter words. Good luck!
Quordle
Copy and paste Dordle and multiply Wordle by four. You now know how to play Quordle.
Nerdle
Personally, Nerdle is my idea of hell. But hey, there's a World dupe for everyone! It's Wordle but with a maths focus. Rather than guessing a word you have six chances to guess an equation and there are four Nerdles released each day. Since it works with numbers, the rules are different but it's pretty straightforward. You must have an equals sign, accompanied by a calculation. The symbols you can use are also limited.
Lewdle
Like Wordle but X-rated. As the name suggests, Lewdle calls for words that are typically considered profanity, vulgar or obscene. Past answers have included the more innocuous 'balls', 'spank' and 'boobs' to others you're just going to have to play the game to find out.
Queerdle
One for the girls, the gays and the theys. Queerdle is self-described as the 'yassification of Wordle'. Play for daily puzzles where you have to guess LGBTIQA+ adjacent six-letter words.
Semantle
Saving what is quite possible the hardest for last. Forget everything you learned from Wordle, the same rules do not apply here. Semantle has thrown the five-letter limit out the window, meaning words can be any length. They also have no use for coloured tiles and gentle pats of encouragement with correctly guessed letters. Instead what you're left with is a unlimited number of guesses, and a percentage that shows you how close you are to guessing the related word to the hidden one being use. If it sounds complicated it's because it is.
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