Wordle games: the best alternative spins on the popular word game

Various Wordle games displayed on phones
(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)

Wordle, the five-letter word puzzle game now owned by the New York Times, remains phenomenally popular, and as such, it's no surprise that it has spawned dozens or hundreds of Wordle games that put their spin on the simple formula.

Just how much spin they put on it varies, but rest assured there are options for virtually any interest. Do you want longer words? Multiple words at the same time? Words from the Star Wars universe? Do you want to just do endless Wordles? A Wordle game based on pop music? A Wordle game based on math equations? All of the above and considerably more are available to you.

Here's a collection of some of the best Wordle games available online, and there is sure to be a Wordle game for you.

Wordle Unlimited

If you like Wordle, then Wordle Unlimited is an easy recommendation as it removes the once-per-day restriction of Wordle. That's not it, though; you get a bounty of options not available in the original. This includes dropping down to four-letter words or jumping up to 11 letter words. You can pick whether you want words that are "less weird," "normal," or "more weird." The latest addition to the game allows you to enter unique words to send to your friends as puzzles. Wordle Unlimited is an excellent option with a few interesting twists on the familiar formula if you are looking for more Wordle in your life. 

Heardle music intro game

(Image credit: Heardle)

Heardle

If word games aren't your thing, then the music-based Wordle game Heardle may be the right choice for you. Rather than guessing letters, you are trying to guess which pop song is playing. Sound easy? You start with just a single second of audio, and you can skip or guess each turn with up to six seconds of audio on your last chance. You can enter either artist names or song title into the box, and it pulls up anything that matches in the system, so if you can puzzle out the artist, you have a pretty good shot at it. 

Star Wordle

It shouldn't take more than one guess for you to solve what Star Wordle is, following the same five-letter word with six total guesses as the original this Wordle game limits things to only words found in Wookieepedia. If the force is strong with your Star Wars vocabulary, this could be the Wordle you're looking for. (Yes, that was terrible, and no, I'm not sorry.)

Worldle geography-based Wordle game

(Image credit: Worldle)

Worldle

You may do a double-take before you realize this isn't just the original, but Worldle is a geographic Wordle game. It displays the outline of a country or territory, and you need to identify it within six guesses. After any incorrect guesses, you get the distance and direction that the correct location is away from your guess. It's a compelling game if you are either a geography whiz or want to bone up on your geography as it links you to a view of the location on Google Maps when you finish.

Quordle

Regular Wordle isn't a challenge for you? Enter Quordle; it has you solving four words at once. The rules are otherwise the same, but you are entering a single word applied to four puzzles at once and trying to solve them all in six guesses. Once your beautiful mind has conquered that task, you can step it up another notch with Octordle for eight words or Sedecordle, which is 16 words at once. Cracking that last one may come with an honorary doctorate in Wordle, but don't hold me to that.

Squabble royale competitive Wordle game

(Image credit: Squabble)

Squabble

Wordle meets Fortnite? Sure, why not. Squabble is a battle royale version of Wordle with a hundred other players trying to solve the same series of five-letter word puzzles simultaneously. Your goal in this version is to keep your health bar as high as possible; you lose health for taking too long with a guess, and you gain health for getting the correct answer. Simply outlast your fellow Squabblers in that round, and you win.

Primel

Math is the universal language, so why not a math-based Wordle game. Primel looks exactly like Wordle, just swapping your standard keyboard for numbers. You are trying to find a five-digit prime number. 

Math-based Wordle game Mathler

(Image credit: Mathler)

Mathler

Sticking with our previous theme, Mathler is once again a math-based Wordle game, but this time you are trying to find the equation that results in the answer you are given to start the puzzle. 

Nerdle

If Mathler is too simple or you want more math-based Wordle games in your life, then Nerdle ups the ante with an eight-figure math equation that this time includes the answer as well. Adding to the challenge, you need to get the order right, so 8x25=200 will not be accepted if the answer is 25x8=200.

A Lord of the Rings themed Wordle game

(Image credit: Lordle of the Rings)

Lordle of the Rings

If you are hyped up for the new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series on Amazon, then the LotR themed Lordle of the Rings may be perfect for you. The game board is identical, so you'll be taking a stab at five-letter words and names from Tolkien's universe in six guesses. Keep in mind this is any word that appeared in the primary LotR books, so don't get hung up on just guessing names and places.

Taylordle

Themed Wordle games aren't limited to fantasy worlds; Taylordle is five-letter words that contain Taylor Swift album titles, lyrics or trivia. Otherwise, the rules are the same as the original, with six guesses to prove you're a dedicated Swiftie.  

Sean Riley

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more.  Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.