For when the Wordle is not enough.
In light of Wordle becoming a global sensation, enterprising game mavens have concocted multiple spinoffs to cash in on the New York Times-owned puzzle’s popularity.
These offshoot brainteasers range from everything from gourmand-themed guessing games to the NFL-inspired Wordle spinoff Weddle and everything in between.
They generally copy the format of Josh Wardle’s original puzzle — in which players try and guess a new word each day in under six tries — but, with some exceptions, skew more fun than frustrating.
Indeed, Wordle recently come under fire on social media for being decidedly too difficult. In February, US users slammed the Wordle of the Day — “bloke” — for being “too British, while earlier that month, incensed social media users claimed they were unable to win that day’s brain teaser because of too many vocabulary variations.
Wordle subsequently attempted to help stumped puzzlers with an AI assistant, only to have users slam the cybernetic nitpicker as “condescending.”
Here’s hoping these niche trivia quizzes provide a puzzle palate cleanser.
Moviedle
Are you a “Good Will Hunting”-level savant when it comes to film trivia? Check out Moviedle, a popular cinema-based guessing game created by Jeremy Toeman of AugX Labs. The “Daily Guess That Movie” game, which dropped on March 24, is similar to Wordle, except players try and guess movies rather than vocab.
Each Moviedle of the day starts off by showing players a one-second clip of a mystery movie, which they to try and name the title without pausing the vid.
If stumped, cinephiles can click “skip,” whereupon the site will show them a two-second snippet of the yet-to-be-guessed picture. The teasers tack on an extra second for every failed guess, until the sixth turn, when players are given one final shot at guessing the flick from a six-second snippet.
Unlike Wordle, this film trivia game might seem almost too forgiving. However, as creator Toeman explained, “Moviedle doesn’t have to be the hardest game. It just has to be fun.”
Framed
Just like Moviedle, Framed challenges players to guess movie titles, but from screenshots instead of videos. After a failed guess, the game presents another frame — hence the name — from the film until the Framer either guesses correctly or uses up all six tries.
Foodle
Wordle of mouth? Basically Wordle for foodies, Foodle challenges hangry players to — wait for it — guess a food-related term within six tries. This munchies-inspired mind game is identical in format to Wordle but is limited to gastronomic vocab, such as “drinks” and “spoon.” The only downside is that the board resets when you exit the browser, which prevents players from comparing their guesses with friends and family if they don’t keep the tab open. There are also no stats to inform Foodlers how many games they won, however, they can still post their scores on social media.
Byrdle
The Andy Kaufman of brain teasers, Byrdle lampoons Wordle’s oft-obscure answers by accepting only Renaissance words, and other excruciating niche terminology.
For instance, “psalm” and “quire” would be considered appropriate answers in this self-proclaimed sardonic spinoff, which takes its name from 16th-century English composer William Byrd.
Other possible solutions include proper nouns, plurals and musical terms in languages other than English, the game notes.
Lewdle
Tired of the Times’ doing away with all the dirty Wordles? Enter Lewdle, a profane puzzle that only accepts “d–ks,” “t–ty,” “q–ef” and other expletives so offensive they’d get you kicked out of George Carlin’s house.
Lewdle even warns players on the page, “If you’re likely to be offended by the use of profanity, vulgarity or obscenity, it likely isn’t for you.”
Nerdle
Wordle for mathletes. Players of the arithmetic puzzle Nerdle are challenged to find a daily sum by creating a logical equation of multiplication, subtraction, division and/or addition in six or less attempts.
The eight horizontal paneled game — which has 17,723 valid outcomes — also relies on a proper order of operations in solving, according to the game’s description.
Yes, just like in high school algebra, you have to show your work and punch in both an equal sign and your sum at the end of the graph, which resembles a good ol’ Texas Instruments calculator.
“We think it’s just as fun playing with numbers as playing with letters. See if you agree,” the description reads.
Worldle
Have an innate knowledge of global geography? Worldle is the ideal game for you.
Each day, players will be shown only the outline of a nation and have to type their guesses into a drop-down bar of each sovereign state on Earth in six attempts or fewer.
Wrong guesses will show a percentage of how close in proximity the nation of the day actually is, along with how many kilometers or miles a guess is off by. There’s also a directional arrow that points toward the winning country.
After playing, there’s an option to view the nation on Google Earth — and a chance to prep for the next day.
Subwaydle
Here’s one for all the smarty-pants straphangers. Subwaydle challenges New Yorkers’ transit prowess by giving six different chances to come up with the correct route between two daily given subway stations — and yes, it includes not one, but two transfers each time.
Players then select from a provided list of each NYC subway line (including the Staten Island Railway and shuttle services) before piecing the three-part trip together in sequential order.
One of the prior routes was “from Franklin Avenue – Medgar Evers College to Sutphin Blvd using 2 transfers.”
Lordle of the Rings
One word to rule them all. Just like Wordle, Lordle of the Rings is a five-word guessing game that’s exclusive to “the main text of ‘Lord of the Rings.’”
So mythical names, places and terms such as “Frodo,” “Bilbo,” “Rohan,” “Balrog,” “shire,” “Arwen,” “Gimli,” “Merry,” “dwarf,” and “troll” are all fair game.
Crosswordle Puzzle
Crosswordle is just like its original inspiration, only this time, there are two intersecting words that combine as a mini crossword puzzle.
There are still a few important differences here. Both words, which according to the game’s description are related to one another, must be guessed in full per turn. And unlike Wordle, there is no hard cutoff after six chances. Players are also given clues after each guess.
Quordle
Are you some Helen Mirren-level Wordle wizard? Try your hand at Quordle, in which puzzle polyglots try and solve four five-letter games simultaneously in nine guesses or fewer — think Bobby Fischer playing communal chess.
What also makes the currently trending Quordle different is that it offers a practice mode for users to play in between rounds rather than having to wait another day for more.
The creator, Freddie Meyer, also drew a line in the sand and said his intentions are quite different from those of Wordle’s creator, Josh Wardle, who sold the game to the Times for a reported seven-figure sum last month.
“I have no plans to monetize Quordle, I just enjoy watching everyone enjoy this insane game,” Meyer wrote about his game, which has been played more than a million times.
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