Ever since the dawn of the world wide web, word games have been a popular online pastime. From online crossword puzzles, to GamePigeon’s Word Games, and, for many years, Zynga’s “Words with Friends”, the possibilities of online word games seem practically endless. Most recently, the game “Wordle” has taken off and grabbed the attention of avid word lovers across the globe. The point of the original game couldn’t be more simple; the player is given six chances to guess any five-letter word in the English language. Hints are provided along the way; grey squares mean that the letter is not present in the solution, yellow squares mean that the letter is somewhere else in the solution, and green squares mean that the letter is correct, and in the correct place.

Wordle’s popularity has reached such heights that discussion of that day’s solution finds itself trending on Twitter each day. There has been much debate on which word is best to start with, to provide players with the best chance of correct letters and ultimately finding the solution. Upon seeing the craze that the original inspired, developers across the internet took to their computers and speedily developed their own unique versions of the game. Some of these variations are directly inspired, while others took the concept and ran in a different direction. Plus, the upsurge in small online games seems to be a step in the positive direction for independent game developers, especially after the fall of Adobe Flash player in 2020. Considering the majority of online games until that point had been built on Flash, it was understandably difficult for developers to get back on their feet after losing what games and programs were being supported by the giant of a platform. 

Here are ten spinoffs of Wordle that are sure to keep you busy.

#1: Quordle – 

“Quordle” was one of the first well-known variations of Wordle. In this version, four different words must be guessed, and each guess made is entered in the grid and the breakdown is given for each word. Many have found it significantly more difficult to pay attention to which squares are grey, yellow, or green for four different words at once. To combat this increase in difficulty, players are given nine guesses to solve the entire puzzle as opposed to the original six. “Quordle” seemed to spark a trend of changing the number of solutions, while maintaining just about every other aspect of the original game. You can play  “Quordle”  here.

#2: Octordle – 

“Octordle” takes the premise of “Quordle”, and bumps it up another notch. The number of solutions, as the title implies, is multiplied by eight rather than four. Once again, the developers relented, giving players 13 chances to guess all of the solutions. You can play  “Octordle”  here.

#3: Heardle – 

“Heardle” serves as a creative musical spin on Wordle that has engrossed the music community. Users press “play”, and listen to a short snippet of a song at a time. Each time the user skips, a longer portion of the song plays until the listener can recognize the tune. A catalogue from which players can guess is provided, so it seems as though the most well-known songs are included. The solutions thus far have included songs from a number of different decades, genres, and artists, grabbing the interest of a multitude of different music lovers around the world. You can play  “Heardle”  here.

#4: Wordle Unlimited – 

This site allows for Wordle players to practice their craft without limits. Users can play as many games as they wish, and track their progress just the same as the original. It can be used as a tool to test out new words to start with, and to learn how to better use the process of elimination. However, some have argued that being able to play as many times as they wanted made the original game of Wordle less interesting; to many, much of Worldle’s draw stems from only having one opportunity to win every day. You can play  “Wordle Unlimited”  here.

#5: Semantle – 

“Semantle” strays quite far from the original format — players are given an infinite number of guesses to guess any word in the English language. For each guess the user makes, a percentage is given that to point readers in the right direction. The percentage signifies how close the word is semantically, or by its definition. Many players have found this particular spin off to be too difficult; at least the developers provided an “I give up” button, to allow less determined players to see the answer without having guessed it. You can play  “Semantle”  here.

#6: Worldle – 

“Worldle” appeals to the intersection of nerds that love both words and geography. The aim of the game is to guess that day’s mystery country. Provided a black outline of the country, players’ geographic knowledge is tested as they only have six chances to guess correctly. As an aid, a directional arrow and distance in kilometers is given with each wrong guess, to show where the guess was in relation to the correct country. You can play  “Worldle”  here.

#7: Globle – 

“Globle” is a more visually interesting version of “Worldle”. The concept of identifying a country is the same, though the countries you guess are highlighted on a 3-D globe. The closer your guess is, geographically, the deeper the red highlight becomes. Some have found it to be easier than “Wordle”, because the entire globe is visible at once, rather than just seeing the outline of one country. You can play  “Globle”  here.

#8: Taylordle – 

“Taylordle” was the catalyst for a small trend of Wordle-themed games based on specific celebrities, or any media sensation. The game’s solutions include words used commonly in her discography, words that describe her look, style, or small things that have become associated with Taylor Swift in her 15 years of fame. Swifties have been geeking out over the variation, and competing to see who knows the most about the singer. You can play  “Taylordle”  here.

#9: SWordle – 

This one was made for the avid Star Wars fans out there. SWordle, or “Star Wordle” is about what one would expect — players are tasked with guessing any word related to the Star Wars franchise. The site is also decked out with a Star Wars themed design, iconic “Star Jedi” font and all. Players must know the real nitty-gritty of the franchise, with some solutions being small characters or locations from lesser known Star Wars films and TV spin offs. You can play  “SWordle”  here.

#10: Framed – 

“Framed” is for the more visually inclined among us. For major cinephiles, this game may be a breeze — one frame of a popular film is shown, and players must guess from which film the shot was derived. For each guess that the player makes, a different frame is shown, perhaps clueing them in on some of the movie’s principle actors, locations, or time periods. Some players have found it fun to watch the films from the game that they don’t recognize or haven’t watched before. You can play  “Framed”  here.

Whether your mental thesaurus is expansive or not, there is certain to be a variation on Wordle with which you can fall in love!