31 games like Wordle in 2026

Last checked 26 September 2026. I loaded every link below on that date and they all worked.

Wordle got a lot of people into the habit of one puzzle a day and then stopping. These are the daily games like Wordle I think are worth keeping once that habit sticks, grouped by what they actually ask of you: spelling, meaning, or knowing something. All free to play in a browser, no app and no account.

Short answer

If you read romantasy, try Booky, five letters a day and the romantasy book behind the word. If you want Wordle but harder, Quordle or Octordle. If you want to stop thinking about spelling, Contexto or Semantle score guesses by meaning. If you want to play forever, Word Master has no daily limit. All free.

What counts as a Wordle type game

Wordle like games share three things, and most lists ignore the third. One puzzle, shared by everyone, that resets daily. Feedback after each guess that narrows the answer rather than just saying no. And an ending, so you put your phone down. Games that let you grind endlessly are on this list, but they are a different habit, and they are marked as such.

Contents

• Start here if you read
• What counts as a Wordle type game
• Wordle type games: same puzzle, more of it
• Forget spelling, guess the meaning
• Word games like Wordle: grids and the NYT set
• Places
• Films, music and games
• Trivia and oddities
• Wordle archive: play old puzzles
• Frequently asked questions

Quick comparison

Start here if you read

Wordle is a spelling puzzle that happens to use words. If you would rather the words meant something, two games take that seriously, and they are not interchangeable.

Booky Free

Booky is Wordle for romantasy readers. Five letters, six guesses, the same purple and yellow feedback, and when you solve it the novel the word came from appears with its cover. There is an archive of every past day, and it never asks you to make an account. I built it, so the placement is mine and the description is yours to check: play today's word and decide for yourself.

Bookidle Free

Often described as the Wordle for books, which undersells how different it is. Bookidle shows you a cover and clues and asks which book it is, so it rewards what you have read rather than how you spell. If you want the Wordle grid, that is Booky. If you want to prove your shelves, this is the one. Play Bookidle

Wordle type games: same puzzle, more of it

These keep Wordle's rules and turn a dial. The multi-board ones are the usual next step once one grid stops being a challenge.

Quordle Free

Four Wordle grids at once, nine guesses, every guess played on all four. Your guesses are spent across all four boards at once, so the early ones are about coverage rather than accuracy. It is the natural step up and the one most people stop at. Play Quordle

Octordle Free

Eight grids, thirteen guesses. The point at which multi-board stops being a novelty. Thirteen guesses for eight words sounds generous until you realise a wasted guess costs you eight times over. Best on a big screen. Play Octordle

Dordle Free

Two grids, seven guesses. The gentlest way into multi-board. Two boards, seven guesses, and the difficulty barely moves. Good if Quordle felt like a wall. Play Dordle

Sedecordle Free

Sixteen grids, twenty-one guesses. Bring a notepad. Twenty-one guesses, sixteen boards, and no realistic way to hold it all in your head. People genuinely use paper for this one. Play Sedecordle

Word Master Free

Wordle without the once-a-day rule. Play until you are sick of it. The same rules with no daily reset, which makes it the right tool for practice and the wrong one if you are trying to make a puzzle last. Play Word Master

Absurdle Free

There is no secret word. It changes the answer to dodge you for as long as it can. It narrows to whichever answer keeps the most possibilities alive, so it is actively working against you. Beating it in four is a genuine achievement. Play Absurdle

Forget spelling, guess the meaning

Both drop letters entirely and score how close your guess is in meaning. They are the hardest games here and the most satisfying when they break open.

Contexto Free

Guesses are ranked by closeness in meaning. Unlimited tries, no letters involved. Rank one means you found it. Rank 40,000 means you are nowhere, which the game will let you discover slowly and painfully. Unlimited guesses. Play Contexto

Semantle Free

Same idea as Contexto but harder, using word2vec similarity scores. Has a Junior mode when it beats you. It tells you how close you are as a similarity score, which sounds helpful until your first twenty guesses all score under ten. There is a Junior mode, and an archive. Play Semantle

Word games like Wordle: grids, searches and the NYT set

Word games that are not guess-the-answer. Connections in particular has overtaken Wordle as the puzzle people argue about.

NYT Connections Free

Sixteen words, four hidden groups of four. The traps are the whole game. The four groups always contain at least one deliberate trap word that fits two categories. It is now the most argued-about daily puzzle after Wordle itself. Play NYT Connections

NYT Strands Free

A themed word search with one spangram running edge to edge. No guess limit, and hints unlock by finding ordinary words first, so it is the gentlest thing on this list. Play NYT Strands

NYT Spelling Bee Freemium

Seven letters, one compulsory. A few free puzzles, the rest behind a subscription. The centre letter must appear in every word, and using all seven scores a pangram. A handful of free plays before it asks for a subscription. Play NYT Spelling Bee

Waffle Free

Swap letters around a waffle-shaped grid to fix six words in fifteen moves. Fifteen swaps, and a perfect solve uses ten, so it rewards seeing the whole grid before touching anything. Quick, and rarely frustrating. Play Waffle

Squareword Free

A five by five crossword-ish grid solved by guessing whole words. Five across, five down, all interlocking, guessed a whole word at a time. Harder than it looks because every correct letter constrains four other words. Play Squareword

Squaredle Freemium

Find every word in a letter grid. Free daily puzzle, extras behind a subscription. One grid, dozens of hidden words, and a bonus word each day. Free daily puzzle, with extra puzzles and features behind a subscription. Play Squaredle

Numbers instead of letters

Nerdle Free

Guess the equation instead of the word. Same colour feedback, arithmetic instead of letters. Eight tiles, an equals sign, and the arithmetic has to actually work. Surprisingly approachable if you can hold basic sums in your head. Play Nerdle

Places

The geography branch is bigger than most people realise, and Tradle is the one I have learned the most from.

Worldle Free

Name the country from its silhouette. Wrong guesses give distance and direction. After each wrong country it gives distance, compass direction and how close you are as a percentage. Six guesses. Play Worldle

Globle Free

Guess countries and the globe warms as you close in. No distance readout, just warmer colours as you close in, so you triangulate by guessing countries you do not expect to be right. Play Globle

Flagle Free

A flag revealed one tile at a time. The flag appears in six tiles, one revealed per wrong answer, which turns obscure flags into a genuine test. Play Flagle

Tradle Free

Identify a country from what it exports. Stranger and better than it sounds. You see a treemap of a country's exports and work backwards. You will learn which country is quietly enormous in one strange commodity. Play Tradle

Travle Free

Get from one country to another by naming the ones in between. Name every country between a start and a destination, sharing a land border the whole way. Fewer countries is a better score. Play Travle

Films, music and games

Same daily shape, different thing being tested. I would start with CineNerdle for the player-submitted puzzles, which almost nothing else here has.

Framed Free

Six stills from a film, one at a time, until you name it. The stills are ordered from most obscure to most obvious, so solving on the first frame means something. Six guesses. Play Framed

Moviedle Free

An entire film compressed into a second, then slowed down with each wrong guess. The whole film plays in about a second, then slower with each wrong guess. Genuinely disorientating the first few times. Play Moviedle

CineNerdle Free

A grid of clues to swap into five hidden films. The only one here with real player-submitted puzzles. Swap tiles of clues into five films, with a limited number of swaps. It is the only game here with a real supply of player-submitted puzzles, which is why it keeps going. Play CineNerdle

Gamedle Free

Name the video game from its cover art, characters or description. Several modes, including guessing from cover art alone, from a pixelated screenshot, or from a description. Free, and updated daily. Play Gamedle

Bandle Free

A song built up one instrument at a time until you name it. Six instruments are layered in one at a time, so the song only resolves as the arrangement fills out. Better with headphones. Play Bandle

Spotle Free

Guess the artist, with hints on genre, popularity and debut year. Each wrong artist tells you how close you were on genre, country, debut year and popularity, which narrows it fast. Play Spotle

Trivia and oddities

The ones that do not fit anywhere, and are better for it.

Redactle Free

A Wikipedia article with the nouns blacked out. Work out the subject. Every word except the commonest is blacked out, and you reveal them by guessing. Solving it usually takes a long lunch break. Play Redactle

Chronophoto Free

Guess the year a photograph was taken. Closer is better. Five photographs, and your score depends on how many years off you are. Deceptively hard for anything before colour film. Play Chronophoto

Costcodle Free

Guess the price of a Costco item in six tries. Absurd, and weirdly addictive. Six guesses, and it tells you higher or lower. The joke wears off and the habit does not. Play Costcodle

Wordle archive: which of these let you play old puzzles

The most common thing people want after a daily game is yesterday's, and the Wordle archive itself now sits behind a New York Times subscription. These are the free games like Wordle that keep a back catalogue you can still play.

• Booky archive, every past day since launch, free, and archive days never touch your streak
• Squaredle, an Archive & classics section in its menu
• Semantle, a Play Archive button on the board
• Framed and Waffle, both keep past puzzles

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free alternative to Wordle?

It depends what you want from it. If you read, Booky gives you a five letter word and then the novel it came from. If you want the same puzzle but harder, Quordle and Octordle run four and eight grids at once. If you want to stop thinking about spelling entirely, Contexto and Semantle score your guesses by meaning instead. All of those are free.

Are there any word games like Wordle for book lovers?

Two worth knowing, and they are not the same game. Booky is literal Wordle mechanics, five letters and six guesses, where solving reveals the romantasy novel the word came from. Bookidle asks you to identify a book from its cover and clues, so it tests what you have read rather than how you spell. If you want the Wordle feedback grid, that is Booky.

Can I play old Wordle puzzles?

Several games keep an archive. Booky, Squaredle and Semantle all let you play past days, and Framed and Waffle keep back catalogues too. Wordle itself has an archive, but it now requires a New York Times subscription.

Which of these games are actually free?

Most of them. On this list only NYT Spelling Bee and Squaredle hold anything back behind a subscription, and both still give you a puzzle a day for nothing. Everything else here is free to play with no account.

How many of these can I play in a day?

Nearly all of them are one puzzle a day by design, which is the point: it ends. If you want to keep going, Word Master and Absurdle are unlimited, and most of the rest have archives.

Are there free games like Wordle that are not from the New York Times?

Almost everything on this page. Only Connections, Strands and Spelling Bee are New York Times puzzles. The rest are made independently and are free to play, including Booky, Contexto, Semantle, Waffle, Framed and Globle.

How this list is kept

I loaded and played every game here on 26 September 2026. Anything that had gone dark or turned into something else I took off rather than leaving it in with a note, which is why my list is shorter than some. If a game on here has shut down or changed, tell me and I will take it off.