Daily puzzle games like Wordle, and who each one suits

Every one of these daily puzzle games like Wordle gives you one short puzzle a day, the same one everyone else gets. Below are nine good ones, grouped by the kind of thinking they ask for: words, numbers, or shapes and paths. That matters more than which game is trending this week.

A fair warning first: we make one of these, Linelet, so we've tried to describe it as plainly as the rest. Details like prices, and which puzzles are free, can change. Check each game's own site or store page before you commit.

Which word games are most like Wordle?

Start here if Wordle is already part of your morning. All four of these are about words, and three come from the same place.

Wordle

The original daily habit. You get six tries to guess a five-letter word. After each guess the tiles change colour: green for the right letter in the right spot, yellow for a letter that's in the word but somewhere else, grey for a letter that isn't in it at all. The New York Times bought it in 2022 and still publishes it. Suits: anyone who wants a quick morning ritual and a little vocabulary.

Connections

Also from The New York Times. You get sixteen words and have to sort them into four hidden groups of four. The trick is the red herrings, like a word that seems to fit two groups at once. Four wrong guesses and the game's over. Suits: people who enjoy lateral thinking and wordplay more than spelling.

Strands

A themed word search from the same publisher. You trace words on a small grid of letters, and they all link to a hidden theme you have to work out as you go. Suits: anyone who finds word searches relaxing but wants a bit more of a riddle.

A mini crossword

Lots of newspapers and puzzle sites publish a small daily crossword, often five squares by five. It takes a few minutes, not an hour. The Mini from The New York Times is a well-known one. Suits: crossword fans who only have a short break, and beginners who find a full-size grid daunting.

Number games for people who'd rather not spell

Some people love Wordle's shape but not the spelling. These two keep the daily rhythm and swap the letters for digits.

Nerdle

Wordle with arithmetic. You have six guesses to find a hidden equation, which is eight characters long in the classic game, and coloured tiles tell you how close you are. It's one puzzle a day, played in your browser at nerdlegame.com. Suits: people who like numbers and don't mind a little mental maths.

Daily sudoku

Not new, but it fits the pattern perfectly. Plenty of newspapers and free sites post a sudoku or two every day. The New York Times Games app, for example, has a new one daily in easy, medium and hard. Suits: anyone who likes pure logic with no words and no guessing. If that's you, our guide to logic puzzles for a calm break has more in the same spirit.

Logic and grid games

This group is about shapes and paths rather than words or sums. Each board has one answer you can reach by reasoning, which is a big part of why one-answer puzzles feel so fair.

Queens

A daily grid puzzle on LinkedIn, with a new board at midnight Pacific time. Put one crown in every row, every column and every coloured region. No two crowns can touch, not even at a corner. Suits: people who enjoy sudoku-style deduction.

Zip

Another LinkedIn daily. Draw one path that visits the numbered dots in order and passes through every square of the grid. Suits: anyone who likes drawing routes and finding the one path that fits.

Linelet

Our game. Each board has pairs of matching ends, and each pair must be joined by a line of exactly the length shown on its ends, counting both ends. Lines can't cross, and when the board is done every square is used once. There are two new daily puzzles every day plus a library of boards to work through, with no timer on screen while you play and no ads.

It's a phone app, and the Linelet home page shows what's in it. You can also try today's free Linelet puzzle in your browser first to see if it clicks. Our guide on how to solve number line puzzles walks through the first few moves. Suits: people who like spatial puzzles and a quiet screen.

How to pick daily puzzle games like Wordle you'll stick with

Pick the kind of thinking you enjoy, not the game everyone's talking about. The one that feels like play is the one you'll still open in a month.

Then watch how the game treats you. Adverts between puzzles, timers you can't turn off, or pressure to buy extra lives can turn a calm habit into a stressful one.

Keep the list short, too. Two or three daily games make a pleasant ritual, and there's a gentle way to set one up in a calm daily puzzle routine. Ten starts to feel like homework.

Sharing is optional but nice. Many of these games let you share your result without spoiling the answer. Wordle's grid of coloured squares is the famous one, and it's an easy way to keep in touch with friends and family.

This roundup was written in September 2026. Game names belong to their owners. We aren't affiliated with any game on this list other than Linelet, and nobody paid to be included.