Do you wordle? I am sure that wordle will soon become a verb, like google is today! Even if you have not wordled already, I am sure you have heard of it. Hard to not hear of it actually, considering it is all over social media. All those green, gray, and yellow squares parading themselves all over twitter! I have to admit, I gave in to the craze and have been playing for the past week now. What can I say? It is a word game after all, and I am a logophile. So of course I went around looking for Wordle alternatives to try out.

And like any popular thing, it has inspired many copies. The good thing with these clones: they all credit the original, they allow more attempts and ways to play for those who want to, and they, well, they are all there! I also include a few other word games (all online, and all ad-free and free of needing registrations or other such things) which I have enjoyed before.

For example, a recent Wordle attempt for yours truly

⬛⬛🟨🟨🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle Itself

You can chose to play from the archives here or here. If you want to make it harder for yourself, enable “Hard Mode” by clicking on the settings icon (gear) on the top right corner, and select from the list.

A Quick Run Down on How to Play

To play, you’ll need to guess a five-letter word (the wordle) in six attempts. Each guess reveals correct and incorrect letters in different colors. Guess it and you win – win the joy of guessing the word!

(Below steps from Wordle)

• Guess the WORDLE in 6 tries.
• Each guess must be a valid 5 letter word. Hit the enter button to submit.
• After each guess, the color of the tiles will change to show how close your guess was to the word.
• Any correct letter in the right spot shows up green. Any correct letter in the wrong spot is yellow. All the rest are grey.

To enable hard mode, click on the settings icon (it looks like a gear) in the top right corner. That will pull up a screen that lists settings for the games. The first entry is “Hard Mode.” Click the button to the left of it to toggle the mode off and on. If it’s green, then it’s on. If you want to play around with it, no worries; you can enable or disable it at any point, even in the middle of a game between guesses.

Tips and Tricks

• First attempts matter. One thing that helps is picking a word with many vowels as your first word. Also, think of the most common words/letters, and start with them.
• Repetition happens. Remember that even five-letter words can have a letter repeated (or more); like radii, or all those double-e, double-o, double-l words, and more
• Practice makes perfect. Play this and other word games, and you will get better. Of course, read a lot!! That is the first and most important thing to help you here.

Some More Stuff

I loved reading this data scientist’s approach to the game, and of course all the data he presented about words to do with wordle. Also enjoyed this PBS article about why we love games like this, and a discussion on if they are good for our brains!

Back to the Game

Anyway, coming back to the topic of this post; here are your wordle alternatives. Just like Wordle, all these options are ad-free and do not require registration or signups of any sort (at least to play one game a day). I have tried out all these options below, the clones, the other word games, even Lewdle. As I mentioned earlier, all these game sites credit Wordle and its creator, and many of them are sharable, just like Wordle (if you so wish!)

Wordle Alternatives: 13+ Options You Will Love

Wordle Clones

Absurdle

An AI based wordle created by pseudonymous coder qntm. Here, the secret word keeps changing based on your guesses; until you one-up the AI and back it into the one-last-word corner. Can drive you crazy, or make you feel like ‘I did it!’ Got to take those little wins after all, right? Unlimited plays, limited guesses per play.

Byrdle

As the creators say, this is a parody of the original, and inspired by QuireMemes. Words related to choral music. One play per day; limited guesses per play.

Dordle

Double + Wordle = Dordle! So guess two words here with seven tries. It is tough! Play many times per day.

Hello Wordl

This spinoff gives players the option to pick the number of letters in the word (from 4 to 11 letters), and as many times as you want per day. The number of guesses per play remains the same – six.

Lettrle

Well, pick a letter, any letter. There, you are done! And sometimes, you are not done until the 26th letter (yikes, that happened to me!)

Lewdle

Lewd+Wordle=Lewdle. As the name suggests, this is a game for those who need something other than clean and nice. Comes with a content advisory (needed, obviously!)

Seven Wordles

A race against time as you try to solve seven wordles in a row. This hello-wordl! spinoff and Wordle remake tests how quickly you can guess seven different words. There is a 3 second penalty for each wrong guess.

Sweardle

Like Lewdle, this one is to be played off-book almost:) The only difference being, this is all four letter words!!

Wheeldle

A coder’s attempt to try his own version of Wordle. This has a old video game kind of look (like Mario or Pacman for example)

WordGuessr

A clone with the ability to share a challenge link so that you and your friends can play the same word. Play as many times; limited guesses; play with 3 – 7 letters per word. Share the grid.

Word Master

The original with unlimited tries.

Wordle Game

An option with limited guesses that allows unlimited games, choice of 4 – 11 letters, six different languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian), and to share your squares.

Wordle Play

Choice of 5 – 7 letter words; limited guesses; unlimited tries; hard mode.

Other Word Games

The non-clones but still wordle alternatives. Each one can be played a limited number of times without needing any sign-in/registration per day.

• Play-Four from Merriam-Webster
• Lexigo from Merriam-Webster
• The New York Times Spelling Bee
• Letter-Boxed from the New York Times

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Related Stuff

• Word Play and its Wonders
• Bean Playing With Words & Always Love It
• 13 Board Games For Those Days of Bored(om)
• W is for……..Word Games….

And Now, the End of This Post

Have you played Wordle? Or any of these Wordle alternatives?