Do you like Wordle? Here are 10 Similar Games to Try in 2026

In 2021, Josh Wardle introduced the popular word game Wordle. Then in 2022 the New York Times bought the game. The rules in Wordle are very simple. You must find a five-letter word in six or fewer guesses (we have a a two-step strategy to help you solve the puzzle every time). After each guess, the game shows gray blocks for the wrong letters, yellow blocks for the correct letters in the wrong place and green blocks for the correct letters in the right place.

The CNET team Gael Cooper has many tips and tricks to tackle each NY Times Wordle puzzle. If you’ve finished your daily Wordle and are still craving a good puzzle game, there are plenty to choose from.

Here are 10 more puzzle games you can play right now.

Communication

Another New York Times-owned puzzle, Connections is a tricky word game. “Players must choose four groups of four words without making more than four mistakes,” The New York Times wrote to X. There are also four color-coded difficulty levels for each game; yellow is the easiest, then green, then blue and finally purple. The show is also similar to the BBC quiz show Only Connect, and the show’s host took from X to show communication. See what I did there?

You can play Connections in any web browser but you need a New York Times subscription (starting at $1 per week) to play.

Threads

Strands is another puzzle owned by the New York Times but this game is more like a word search than Wordle and Connections. This game introduces a theme every day to help you find the words on the grid. In Strands words can appear forward, backward, top to bottom or any number of ways in a traditional word search, and words can also form an “L” shape or have a zigzag in them. When you find a word, touch the first letter and drag your finger to other letters. Every letter in the puzzle is used, so if you still have letters that don’t connect to words, you’re not done.

You can play Strands in any web browser but you need a New York Times subscription (and, $1 a week) to play.

Quartiles

Quartiles is a new word game that Apple News Plus subscribers can access The iPhone or The iPad that works iOS 17.5 or later. In this word game, you are given 20 tiles with letters on them and you try to combine them to form different words. The longest words are four tiles long, and these are called Quartiles. The game can be difficult but finding one of the Quartiles is as satisfying as remembering what was in your language groups.

You can play Quartile on iPhone or iPad but you need an Apple News subscription (starting at $13 per month) to play.

More Wordle spinoffs: Dordle, Quordle, Octordle and Sedecordle

Are you up for a challenge? If you like Wordle and are looking for puzzle games that take more brain power, you’ll want to check out either Dordle, The Quordle, Octordle or Secordle. Each of these word games is similar to Wordle, but adds additional rows, columns and words to solve. Each game requires you to simultaneously solve a different number of words at once: Dordle has you solve two words at once, Quordle four at once, Octordle eight at once and Sedecordle 16. Good luck.

You can play Dordle, The Quordle, Octordle or Secordle in any web browser.

Lewdle

“Lewdle is a game about green words,” reads the game’s content hint. “If you happen to be offended by the use of profanity, profanity or profanity, it’s probably not for you.” Translation: It is the Word but in bad words. Words range from mild — like poopy — to words that would make a sailor blush. Thanks, without warning for the content of this game, slurs are not included. Like the Wordle blocks, the grey, yellow and green blocks are used in the same way and there is only one puzzle per day. So get out there and let the bad words flow!

You can play Lewdle in any web browser. You can also download this game from Apple App Store or i Google Play the shop.

The Antiwordle

Tired of seeing those gray, yellow and green blocks plastered all over your social media feed? Try Antiwordle. While Wordle wants you to guess the word in as few attempts as possible, Antiwordle wants you to avoid the word by guessing as many times as possible. If you guess, the letters will be gray, yellow or red. Gray means that the letter is not in the word and will not be used again, yellow means that the letter is in the word and must be included in each subsequent guess and red means that the letter is located directly inside the word and is locked in place. If you can use all the letters on the keyboard without finding the correct word, you win. Honestly, I found this version of Wordle more difficult than the original.

You can play Antiwordle in any web browser.

Nonsense

Nonsensical bills themselves as a “controversial version” of Wordle. While Wordle points you in the right direction with each guess, Absurdle tries to avoid giving you the right answer. According to the game’s website, “With each guess, Absurd reveals as little information as possible, changing the password if needed.” Absurdle doesn’t choose a name at the start of the game for the player to guess. Instead, it uses the player’s guesswork to narrow down its vocabulary in an effort to make the game last as long as possible. The last word may not even include a yellow letter from one of your previous guesses. You can guess as many times as you like, which is helpful, and the best score you can get is four. Enjoy it!

You can play Absurdle in any web browser.

For more word game fun, check out CNET’s Tips for wordsi best Wordle jokes and everything you need to know about the word game. You can also check out what you need to know about other sports hosted by The New York Times, Connections and Strands.