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The best games like Wordle

Jesse Lennox
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Wordle fever has hit an all-time high of late. Despite coming out in 2021, it has just had a massive surge in popularity. The simple word game is easy enough for anyone, young and old, gamer or not, to pick up and have a great time. It is challenging but just as addicting. That’s what makes the fact that Wordle only gives one puzzle per day so agonizing for everyone who is hooked on it. We all want more, but there’s no getting around that daily time restraint.

While you’re waiting for the new daily puzzle to pop, there are plenty of alternative titles to Wordle that can scratch a similar itch. All are simple to pick up, will test your creative thinking skills, and maybe even teach you some new words or otherwise help you practice for when it’s time to get back to Wordle. The mobile and PC games markets are among the most saturated, especially with puzzle games, so rather than dig through all the cheap imitators, here are the best games like Wordle you can play right now.

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Typeshift

A grid of letters spelling foxes.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

TypeShift is a great companion to Wordle but does have a bit more focus and direction. Rather than trying to guess a single world, you’re given a set of letters that you can slide up and down to swap out what letter is in that specific part. By moving letters up and down, you need to create words using the available combinations. Once you create a word using a letter, it changes color, with the goal being to use every letter in a word and have them all change color. TypeShift is more about solving a puzzle in as many ways as possible with the same pieces rather than trying to solve a single puzzle, like Wordle. TypeShift has plenty of modes, too. There’s a daily challenge, much like Wordle, but there’s also a huge number of puzzles included to binge if you so choose.

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Squabble

Guessing words in Squabble.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

It was only a matter of time before a pure battle-royale take on Wordle hit the scene, and Squabble was first to the market. There are two main modes: Blitz and Squabble Royale. Blitz caps the player count at five players, while Squabble Royale hits the standard 99 player count. The rules are otherwise the same as Wordle, with the twist being that every word you guess correctly deals damage to an opponent and heals you, but wrong guesses causes you to take damage. You also take 1 point of damage every second, meaning you can’t stall. If you really want to prove your Wordle skills to your friends, this is the game to do it with.

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Kitty Letter

Cats carrying letters across a road.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you’ve ever read the webcomic The Oatmeal, Kitty Letter’s art style will be immediately recognizable. From that same creator, this is a more directly competitive game than Wordle. In this mobile-only game, you and an opponent are given a set of letters similar to Scrabble tiles set in a hexagon that you connect in order to form words. As you make more words, you summon cats that will carry those words toward your opponent and then blow up. The larger the words you form, the more damage you will do. This is a bit more stressful than Wordle but very cute and addicting.

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Babble Royale

A game of Babble Royale.
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This entry may look like another lazy attempt to jump in on the battle royale craze, and maybe it is, but Babble Royale is still a really fun game. All you need to know is that it’s Scrabble, but with the battle royale twist. If you’re not familiar with that term, in this game’s case, you will join a game with up to 15 other players all playing your tiles on the board at once. You can only build off the first word you make as the edges of the board close in, forcing everyone to form words closer and closer together. If you make a word that connects to a letter an opponent is still trying to build off, you eliminate them. The last one standing (or spelling) wins.

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SpellTower

Forming words from a grid of letters in SpellTower.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This is an older game, but one that’s still just as good as it was when it came out. SpellTower is a little bit like Boggle and Tetris wrapped into one. You’re given a grid of letters in a well, as you would playing Tetris, with the goal to connect any adjacent letters together to form words. Whatever letters you connect into words will disappear, dropping any letters above them down. Some special letters, like Q and X, will also clear the entire row if you find a way to use them in a word. Every word you make causes another row of letters to fall, with the game ending when the screen fills to the top. Other modes have tiles fall based on time, or a multiplayer mode where tiles you clear on your screen are sent to your opponent.

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Hello Wordl

Guessing letters in a wordle clone.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Finally, if you really just want Wordle and nothing else will do, there’s always Hello Wordl. This is the exact same game as Wordle, with a few tweaks, but the most important being that you’re not limited to just one puzzle per day. If you feel like a master of regular Wordle already, then Hello Wordl might be perfect since you can adjust the puzzles to have words anywhere between four and 11 letters long to guess. Otherwise, this is a carbon copy of Wordle, even down to the color-coding of the letters. If nothing else, it is a stress-free way to practice your Wordle skills before taking on the daily puzzle.

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Worldle

An example of Worldle.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Why not stretch your mental legs beyond just words and test your geography skills? Worldle, rather than giving you the number of letters of a given word, gives you the shape of a country that you need to try and guess based on the outline. Instead of getting closer by guessing correct letters, the game clues you in by telling you how far the country you guessed is from the real location. It tells you the kilometers and direction, meaning you still need to do a good deal of mental work to narrow down where in the world the country you’re guessing is. Also, for those countries that we can barely say let alone spell, Worldle has a very gracious autocomplete so you don’t have to worry about knowing the answer but being unable to spell it.

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Heardle

Guessing a song name in heardle.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

No, this isn’t an animal game; it’s music-focused. This time, the twist is that you hear a song in one-second increments, getting just one guess before hearing a bit more of the song if you get it wrong. The longer you take to guess it, the more of it you hear, giving you more of the tune to grab onto and recognize. However, unlike Wordle, where getting it right on your first try is basically all luck, you absolutely can get Heardle right on your first guess if you instantly know the first hook of a song. The game will also help out by auto-completing your guesses to avoid wrong guesses based on typos and things like that.

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Framed

A screenshot from children of men.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ditching the -le naming convention, Framed is yet another awesome twist on the guessing game genre. Most similar to Heardle, this game shows you a single frame of a movie for each guess. They start out fairly obscure, perhaps of an establishing shot, before getting more specific and showing characters. Film fanatics will love testing their knowledge and memory, but casual players will also be surprised at how a single shot can trigger a memory of a film.

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Knotwords

A half-solved Knotwords puzzle appears.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

While still a word game, Knotwords might be the most different game on the list in terms of structure. Essentially, smash together a crossword puzzle with sudoku rules and you will have a good idea of how this game works. Each daily puzzle gives you a set of letters that you use in different orders in a crossword-style grid of squares. Some squares are marked with letters that indicate you have to use one of the listed letters in that square to make a word. The ultimate goal is to fill the entire structure with words, following the restrictions of specific tiles and making sure each row and column form a real word. It’s incredibly simple to pick up and just as satisfying to solve as its two inspirations thanks to the level of thinking required to put it all together.

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Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox loves writing, games, and complaining about not having time to write and play games. He knows the names of more…
The best Wishstones in Lies of P
lies of p preview gamescom 2022 statue

Whether it is a FromSoftware game or a title from another developer, like Lies of P, each entry in the Soulslike genre adds a few new mechanics to stand out and bring a new flavor to the formula. On the surface, you might expect the whole Pinocchio thing to be enough for this game to stand out, but the team took things a few steps further. Aside from a unique take on the weapons system and lore, Lies of P has special items called Wishstones that can grant you powerful buffs. These stones can only be obtained by trading Golden Coin Fruits with a specific NPC, and are consumed upon use. To make sure you're able to maximize the benefits, here are the best Wishstones you should be using in Lies of P.
The best Wishstones in Lies of P

There are a total of 13 possible Wishstones to get, but not all are immediately available. If you see some you can't get quite yet, keep playing until you beat the Black Rabbit Brotherhood. Once that's done, all Wishstones will be available for sale.Here are thebest ones:
Recovery Wishstone
This is the first Wishstone you can get and is one you will probably want to keep at all times. The function here is simple: to passively restore your health for a short amount of time. Since Pulse Charges are so valuable, and you will run out very fast while exploring new areas or fighting bosses, this is a fantastic backup healing option. You do still need to play carefully, and time it right to make the most of it, but more healing is always needed in Lies of P.
Friendship Wishstone
While Lies of P doesn't allow for co-op like some other soulslike games, it does still have a summoning system where you can bring in NPCs to help you take down the cast of challenging bosses. These summons are called Specters, who will do their best to help, but they typically don't last all that long in a fight. If you're willing to use a Wishstone slot, the Friendship Wishstone can keep your loyal companion in the fight longer by giving them a bit of healing.
Courage Wishstone
Fable Arts are your more powerful, weapon-specific moves that consume a part of your Fable Bar to use. This makes it so you can't simply spam your most powerful attacks all the time, but sometimes you need that extra damage output to ekeout a victory. The Courage Wishstone makes that Fable Bar recharge much faster, allowing you to unleash those powerful moves more often.
Frenzy Wishstone
Back on the Specter side of things, these helpers are lacking when it comes to survivability, so you might as well make them pack a stronger punch to pull their weight before getting crushed. This Frenzy Wishstone fires them up to deal more damage. They won't be able to solo a boss for you or anything, but in a game like this, every single point of damage can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Provocation Wishstone
What if you're feeling a little more ... cruel toward your Specter? There's no shame in it since they're only there to serve you, after all. With the Provocation Wishstone, you can put all the aggro onto your Specter, giving you some breathing room to heal, restore some Fable Arts, or just catch your breath. It also gives them a little defense buff so you don't have to feel too bad about it.
Explosive Wishstone
You might feel a little worse about using the Explosive Wishstone, however. Once activated, any time your unsuspecting Specter gets hit, they will explode and deal a nice chunk of damage to anything caught in the blast. If you're unsatisfied with what Specters can do for you normally, why not just turn them into a bomb?
Advance Wishstone
This Wishstone is the equivalent to the Courage Wishstone, only instead of boosting to your Fable bar, this one will help restore your Legion meter. Your various Legion arms are perhaps your greatest tool in Lies of P outside of your standard weaponry, but there's also a material cost. Unlike Fable, Legion does not replenish itself over time naturally and only comes back when you reach a Stargazer or use another consumable. You can bypass this limitation to get a few extra uses out of it with the Advance Wishstone, which gives you a little chunk back free of charge. This is best for builds that utilize Legion Arms more often, so it won't be a top pick for everyone.

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The best weapons in Lies of P
Lies of P boss fight

This interpretation of the classic Pinocchio is nothing like the friendly (if a little creepy) original. Your puppet brought to life is sent out into a world of dangers around every corner, and only your weapons and reflexes will see you through. Lies of P is a Soulslike, after all, so finding and testing out new weapons is all part of the experience. That and dying, of course. Still, if you want to avoid doing the latter as much as possible, a strong weapon will come in handy. This game uses a system where you can customize your arsenal by swapping out the blades and handles, giving you tons of possibilities, but we'll focus on which weapons are the best out of the box in Lies of P and let you do the tweaking from there.
The best weapons in Lies of P

Puppet Saber
Because you can get the Puppet Saber right at the start of Lies of P, you might write it off as something that's only viable in the early game and should be dumped ASAP. That's not the case, as this fast-hitting sword can stay competitive at least until the midgame. It has a good range, is fast, and has a great charge attack you can use to zone enemies with. It scales at rank C in both Motivity and Technique, and comes with the fable art of Storm Slash, which unleashes a flurry of strikes on a target ahead of you. The other art it packs is Concentrate, which gives you a temporary attack buff.
Salamander Dagger
If you are going for a build focused on doing a lot of quick hits rather than long, heavy strikes, daggers like the Salamander Dagger are your best friend. This dagger's real advantage is that it deals fire damage, which many enemies are weak against. It scales at a B in Advance, C in Technique, and D in Motivity. It also has the Ignite ability to give it even more firepower (literally), and the guard ability of doing a fast stab before automatically retreating.
Booster Glaive
There aren't a ton of area-control weapons in Lies of P, which makes the Booster Glaive stand out as a unique pick. You get good range, and the arc on each swing is perfect for crowd control. In tighter, more linear spaces, you can use the charge attack for a forward thrust. This is a Technique weapon, scaling at B, but it also has D scaling in Motivity. It shares the Storm Slash skill with the Puppet Saber, but also has the Patient Slash, which lets you charge up one large, powerful strikes.
Acidic Crystal Spear
Despite the word "Spear" being in the weapon's name, the Acidic Crystal Spear technically falls under the Dagger category of weapons. Regardless, this has the looks, range, and feel of a spear. It can do fast, poking attacks, and will deal acid damage on each strike as well. You get great A-level scaling with Advance, as well as D level in Technique and Motivity. The Radiate art is just like the Salamander Dagger's Ignite, only for acid, and Single Stab is a more powerful forward lunge attack.
Two Dragons Sword
With a name like the Two Dragons Sword, who could resist at least trying this katana out? This boss weapon gives you all the flair and speed of a katana, but it unfortunately cannot be disassembled or modified. Still, with A scaling in Technique and D in Motivity, you won't be wanting for much with this blade. Your two skills are Link Emergency Dodge, which has you dodge forward and gives you the option to use a Fable slot to do two follow-up attacks, and Wind of Swords, which unleashes a torrent of swords in an area of effect.

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The best games on Nintendo Switch Online
Ness from Earthbound.

Each major gaming platform has its own subscription service, giving players added bonuses such as access to certain games and other perks for a monthly fee. Xbox has Game Pass, PlayStation has PlayStation Plus, and Nintendo Switch offers the Nintendo Switch Online program.

While Nintendo's service isn't on the same level as the other two across PlayStation and Xbox, it does give subscribers access to some of the best retro games of all time -- and even more if you have the Expansion Pack upgrade, which includes N64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy Advance games, along with DLC packs for certain Switch titles. Included with the basic version of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription is the ability to play online, plus access to NES and SNES games.

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