If you’re done with your puzzle for the day but still crave more brain-teasing, our guide to the best games like Wordle is here to help. We’ve picked out 13 different fantastic alternatives to keep your mind active throughout the day, many of which are free to play. All you need to do is decide which to play first.
If you’d rather swap Worlde for a mobile version of a classic board game, check out our guides for free Monopoly Go dice and Monopoly Go stickers. Or, if you want to step away from your phone, take a look at our sister site’s list of the best board games.
Here are the best games like Wordle on Switch and mobile:
SpellTower – mobile
SpellTower is what happens when you put Tetris and your classic word search in a metaphorical blender. It takes a little while to get the hang of, but once you do, you’ll be coming back in every spare moment to clear another puzzle and get that rush of nerdy endorphins. Don’t deny it. We’re all the same here.
If you like a touch of excitement in your puzzle games or are sick of regular Tetris, this is a great package and its presentation is stellar as well.
Octordle- mobile
Octordle is like Wordle but it’s designed to give you a migraine. With eight different words to guess, yet only one guess that applies to all of the eight words, it’s a tough one.
Keeping track of everything is part of the fun though, if you’re a bit of a maniac. Or, maybe, I’m just not clever enough. No, that surely can’t be the case…
Word Forward – Nintendo Switch
A word game with a unique twist. Word Forward asks you to spell words by tracing a line between tiles in any direction, even diagonally and allows you to swap letters with the swap token mechanic.
This feels a little like a word search gone wild, and we really appreciate the clean design and UI throughout. Unlike Wordle’s one-a-day offering, there’s plenty here to get on with while you’ve got the word game bug.
Nerdle – mobile
Nerdle is another word game that wears its inspiration on its sleeve. While it’s a game like Wordle on the surface, it actually uses a completely different set of skills.
Have you ever looked at Wordle and thought, “But I’m no good with letters!”? Well, how about numbers? That’s what Nerdle asks of you, and it’s a really tough one to crack.
WordHerd – Nintendo Switch
This game is designed to help you chill out, a cozy puzzler where you must find many interesting words across the board, all to try and help Mia call the lost animals home before nightfall.
There’s very little pressure here, so it’s a lovely way to wind down at the end of the day, while still exercising your brain.
Globle – mobile
Globle is a bit of an odd one at first. You guess a country, and then the hints you receive are super limited. You know how far away the border is from the correct answer (unless you magically guessed it the first time).
The next guess, you find out if you’re getting closer or not, and so on. It’s a fun one, and helpful for learning a bit of geography. It’s hardly GeoGussr, but it does offer a happy place between that notoriously difficult game and Wordle.
Picross S7 – Nintendo Switch
Honestly, we could put any of the Picross S series games here, as each of them continues the high standard of quality, but the latest release also introduces touchscreen controls on the Nintendo Switch, so that just squeaks in ahead of the rest. Solve pixelated puzzles with a number grid that tells you exactly how many pixels on each line need to be filled in.
It’s soothing and incredibly addictive, so if you’re anything like us, you’ll be tearing through the dozens and dozens of puzzles here in no time. There’s even a special Mega Drive & Master System Picross game out there for all you Sega fans!
Dordle – mobile
Dordle is similar to Octordle which is also similar to Wordle. Are you keeping up? Rather than eight words or one word to guess, however, Dordle just gives you two words. And it’s quite a nice time!
It all works the same as Wordle, but this time doubled up, and the UI is clever enough to make clear what letters are still in play. Lovely.
Murder by Numbers – Nintendo Switch
Okay, so you know what Picross is. Imagine that, but a murder mystery and some thoroughly charming characters and dialogue, and you’ve got a good idea of what makes Murder by Numbers such a fantastic title.
While the puzzles are still the main focus – and there are some great ones here – it’s honestly a blast to have a fun narrative thread carrying you from one brain teaser to the next, and the fact it’s done with such well-written characters (we love you so much SCOUT) is just a bonus. A real delight for any puzzle fans out there.
Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain – Nintendo Switch
So, we’re slightly veering away from traditional word puzzles here, but if the thing you enjoy most about Wordle is comparing scores and feeling smarter than your friends, then this could be a perfect fit. Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain brings the classic DS title into the modern day with some devious new puzzles and fantastic multiplayer options.
Face off against everyone in your house with local multiplayer, or prove you’ve got the biggest brain on the planet with online leaderboards. It’s a great invigoration of the series, and you can read even more about it in our Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain review.
Baba Is You – Nintendo Switch
This one’s a bit out of left field, but Babe Is You is a fantastic Nintendo Switch puzzle game that properly forces you to think outside the box. It’s also got a lovely pixelated visual style that we’re a big fan of, with some real Undertale vibes throughout.
Moving words around the world changes how they interact with each other, for instance, moving Door next to Is Open, will open a door, and so on. The developer has taken this framework and truly ran away with it. There’s no one way to finish either, so you can truly get creative with your solutions, in a game that is designed to infuriate and inspire in equal measure.
Typeshift – mobile
If you can imagine playing Wordle on a combination lock, you’ve sort of got the idea here. You must get each word by twisting the row of letters, making the puzzle as much about getting the word right, as also moving the letters in the right way.
This is definitely one of the closest games to Wordle, and it has plenty of different modes to get you through the day when you are itching for your next Wordle fix.
Words With Freds – Nintendo Switch
Possibly the nearest thing to playing Wordle on your Switch, this cheap and cheerful version plays exactly how you’d expect, though it’s slightly tougher than the original version.
Still, this has touch support, a few different options, and loads of words to discover, all at the low price of a single buck. It’s the perfect answer for Switch owners!
New York Times Strands – mobile
Okay, so this one is a little different as it doesn’t have its own dedicated app, but you can play a new puzzle every day by visiting the official New York Times Strands site or using the NYT Games app. The idea of this game is to use clues to guess individual words, or strands, before finding the spangram, the word that brings all the strands together.
It’s a pretty simple concept, but it’s an engaging one too, and there’s a new puzzle to try out every day. If you need just a little something extra after you’ve got your daily Wordle fix but don’t want to download a whole new game, this is a fantastic option.
That’s it for now, we hope you find something else to play with our list of games like Wordle. While you’re here, why not find something new to play your daily Worlde puzzle on with our guides to the best Samsung phones, best Google Pixel phones, and best Xiaomi phones?