Category · 11 games

Word Puzzle Games Like Wordle: Grids, Swaps and Ladders

If you like Wordle for the letters rather than the guessing, try word puzzles in other shapes. Waffle and Smartle have you swap letters into place, Squareword fills a 5x5 grid of words, Weaver and Raddle are word ladders, and Strands and Squaredle are word searches

Updated Links checked every night How we pick games

Games 1 to 11

Compare at a glance

A quick comparison of 11 games from this list: what changes, daily puzzles, unlimited play and multiplayer

GameWhat is differentDailyUnlimitedMultiplayerPrice
Waffle Swap letters to fix six crossing words Yes Not listed Not listed Free, paid extras
Squareword A 5x5 grid of words, across and down Yes Not listed Not listed Free with ads
Smartle Swap letters into five words Yes Not listed Not listed Free with ads
Crosswordle Swap letters until every tile is green Yes Not listed Not listed Free with ads
Weaver A word ladder, one step at a time Yes Not listed Not listed Free with ads
Raddle A ladder of clues from word to word Not listed Not listed Not listed Free
Squaredle Swipe a grid to find every word Yes Not listed Not listed Free with ads
Strands Word search with a hidden theme Yes Not listed Not listed Free, paid extras
Spelling Bee Make words from 7 letters Yes Not listed Not listed Free, paid extras
Wordiply The longest word around a starter word Yes Not listed Not listed Free
Crossclimb A word ladder with trivia clues Not listed Not listed Not listed Free

A closer look

Most of these come out once a day, like Wordle. Crosswordle keeps Wordle's colors but uses them for swapping: green letters are fixed in place, yellow ones belong to the right word in another spot

Spelling Bee and Wordiply are about building words instead: as many as you can from 7 letters, or the longest word that contains a starter word

Questions people ask

Which word puzzle is like Wordle but with swapping?

Waffle: you rearrange letters in a waffle-shaped grid to fix six crossing words, starting with 15 swaps. Smartle and Crosswordle are swap puzzles too

What is a word ladder game?

A puzzle where you change one word into another one step at a time. Weaver has three fresh puzzles every day, Raddle builds its ladder from clues, and Crossclimb adds trivia clues

Which word puzzles have a daily puzzle?

Waffle, Squareword, Smartle, Crosswordle, Weaver, Squaredle, Strands, Spelling Bee and Wordiply all have a puzzle of the day

Top Picks

Four games to try if you want Wordle with a twist

Multi-Board Wordle: Two, Four, Eight Boards and MoreOne set of guesses, several hidden words: from two boards up to thirty-twoWordle Variants: Same Grid, New RulesThe grid you know with a twist: lying tiles, a runaway word, a game that cheatsMath and Logic Games Like WordleEquations instead of words, plus prices and pure deductionGeography Games Like Wordle: Countries, Flags and MapsCountries from shapes, flags, globes and exports, plus history and animalsTrivia Games Like Wordle: Movies, Music, Sports and MoreFilms, songs, athletes, artists, Pokémon and chess openingsSemantic Word Games: Guess the Word by MeaningMeaning beats spelling: get warmer word by wordNYT Games Beyond WordleConnections, Strands, Spelling Bee and the rest of the Times' shelfMultiplayer Wordle: Play With Friends or Against RivalsShared-board duels, races, private rooms and battles for up to 99 playersDaily Puzzle Games Beyond WordleGroups, categories, nested clues and logic, a fresh puzzle every dayWordle Unlimited: Games Like Wordle With No Daily LimitKeep playing after today's word: unlimited modes and practice roundsApps Like Wordle for iPhone and AndroidWordle-like games with an app for your phone