Games Inspired by Wordle That Offer a Different Spin
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Fix All of the Jumbles in Waffle
Rather than creating 5 letter words in rows stacked on top of each other, the letter squares in Waffle join to create a waffle-shaped grid (hence the game’s name). And, all of the letters for all of the words are visible from the start. So, what makes this game challenging, you might ask? It’s the fact that nearly all the letters are not in their correct positions. You need to rearrange the letters to spell the six words — three horizontal and three vertical — correctly.
Of course, that’s not the only source of difficulty. You also have a turn limit to deal with. For each puzzle, you have 15 chances to swap letters. Failing to spell all six words correctly means you’ll have to wait until the next day’s puzzle to try again.
Read our interview with Waffle creator James Robinson for more insight into how the game came to be and where it might be headed next.
Words Are Weapons in Word Knife Fight
If you love Wordle and role-playing games (RPGs) and wish you could play both at once, good news! Now you can. Word Knife Fight combines Wordle’s word puzzle mechanics with the common elements of RPGs to deliver a combat-centric word game. As unconventional as the game sounds, the combination of genres works very well.
Your goal is to solve word puzzles like Wordle, but a computer opponent competes against you to solve them as well. Both you and your opponent have health points. Whenever one of you finds any correct letters or places them in their correct spot, the other player takes damage. Find the key letters and put them in their correct locations to spell words and deplete your opponent’s health. Do this before they can do the same to you.
Eldrow Flips the Wordle Script
When we say these games “flip the Wordle script,” we mean that literally. Eldrow (which is “Wordle” backwards) starts by showing the answer, and you need to work backward to find the first “guess” word.
Fortunately, you only need to find one word to unsolve the puzzle. Eldrow shows the answer in all green squares like Wordle does. Right above it are more squares, but they are blank. They are also different colors: gray, yellow or green. These colors are your clues to the word you’re trying to find.
For example, if the answer is “smite” and the squares above it are yellow, yellow, yellow, gray and gray, then the best word to guess would be “missy.” “Missy” uses three letters that are in “smite,” but they aren’t in the same spots.
Explore Worldle to Explore the World
Worldle is an intriguing spinoff, and it’s actually become one of the most popular Wordle-like games out there. The only words involved in this game are the names of countries. You’re not trying to deduce that name from a cluster of letters though. You need to figure it out by looking at an image.
Each puzzle starts by showing you a very basic outline of a country. Type your guess into the text bar. If your guess isn’t correct, the game will show you a percentage for how close geographically the country you guessed is actually to the right answer. Worldle will also show an arrow that points in the direction of the correct country relative to your guess.
Re-learn Geography by Playing Globle
At first glance, Globle might seem a bit too similar to Worldle, but its gameplay is completely different (as far as Wordle games go). Rather than relying on an outline of a country, you rely on your ability to remember the names of countries and their specific locations.
Globle plays like a game of Hot and Cold. Start by typing the name of a country into the search bar. The globe image beneath the search bar will then rotate to show you that country, and the country will change color. If the country is a cream or yellowish color, you’re not close. If it is a vibrant or deep red, you are very close. Use this color code to track down the target country.
Gotta Spell ‘em All in Squirdle
Wordle is a phenomenon. And so is Pokemon. It makes sense that someone would combine the two. That’s exactly what Squirdle is. It’s the natural evolution of the game. The answer to each puzzle is the name of a Pokemon. Instead of guessing with letters, you guess based on common Pokemon attributes.
A Pokemon’s height, weight, types (a Pokemon’s elemental properties) and the game generation it came from all factor in determining which pocket monster you are trying to find. Think of them like Wordle hints, but for Pokemon. As you make your guesses, the game will tell you when the generation or types are correct, and if the height and weight are too low or too high. Use these clues to narrow your search and find the right Pokemon before you use all of your turns.
Squabble Is the Game for Competitors
As we learned from Word Knife Fight, sometimes you want to prove you’re good at word games by taking down some competitors. Squabble lets you do that as well, but with an important difference: Your opponents are real people.
Squabble is a battle royale word game, similar to Babble Royale. This means you compete against multiple players in real-time. Your goal is to solve one Wordle puzzle after another as quickly as you can. If you take too long, you run the risk of the game’s timer running out, which eliminates you from the game. Be sure to have your best Wordle starting word ready to go!
If you'd rather increase the challenge without the "versus" dynamic, playing a game like Quordle might be more your thing. With Quordle, you solve four Wordle puzzles at the same time.
Quolture Provides a Daily Dose of Pop Culture
Are you someone who loves to show off your movie and TV knowledge? If so, we have the game for you. Quolture is a game for people who love words and pop culture. Each puzzle has two phases. In the first phase, you guess which movie a quote is from. In the second phase, it switches to TV shows.
If you don’t know a quote, there are some tools you can use for help. Each quote comes with two clues you have the option of taking. There is a button to reveal a random letter in the answer. You can do this as many times as you want. Your score is then based on how many of the two clues you used and how many free letters you revealed.
Enjoy Wordle More Than Once a Day
All of these Wordle spinoffs work in tandem with the original. We can have our standard daily challenge finding Wordle answers. Then, we can get creative with these remixes. As fun as these games are, though, sometimes all you want to do is play Worlde more than once. Unfortunately, you can’t actually do that. To compensate for this limitation, various Wordle fans have stepped up to create some wonderful Wordle alternatives. These are games you can play as many times as you want each and every day.
Zac Pricener has been a content creator for the past eight years. He’s a bit of an all-around nerd, and he has a bad habit of working movie and TV show references into conversations whenever possible.
