Wordle spin-offs offer puzzle fans more ways to play

CTV National News: Wordle hooks millions John Vennavally-Rao gives insight on the addictive internet game that has earned international popularity.

The internet's obsession with a five-letter word game has spawned various spin-off games for those who feel that one Wordle a day doesn't satisfy their puzzle craving.

One of the top trending topics on Twitter earlier this week was Taylordle, a variation of Wordle in which the five-letter solution to the puzzle is a nod to A-list pop star Taylor Swift. Song titles ("Exile"), album titles ("Lover") and names of current and former romantic partners ("Harry" or "Alwyn") are all fair game in this game created by the "Holy Swift Podcast." If Swift's back catalogue and personal history aren't in your wheelhouse, a similar version based on five-letter names and words from the "Lord of the Rings" series also exists, aptly named Lordle of the Rings.

For those who don't find Wordle challenging enough, there's Dordle, in which you must solve for two five-letter words simultaneously instead of one.

Created by Zaratustra Productions, Dordle players get seven guesses instead of the six provided in Wordle, but each guess of five letters counts for both words. Strategy becomes key: Should players try to solve one word as fast as possible, then use the remaining guesses to solve for the second word? Or should players guess common letters effectively enough that they can glean enough information about each word to fill in the blanks?

In addition to the daily Dordle, which is the same word for everyone, Zaratustra has also created a non-daily, randomly-generated version that players can try multiple times in a row to practise.

Another, more infuriating option for puzzlers is Absurdle. Following the same format as Wordle, Absurdle keeps a back catalogue of 2,315 possible five-letter words, and narrows down the number of possible words the solution could be based on which letters the player guesses. Players must essentially trap the artificial intelligence behind the game, created by a coder called qntm, into only having one of the 2,315 options left.

A full explanation of Absurdle, including how the AI operates behind the scenes in order to obfuscate the solution, is available on the game's website.

For Wordle players finding themselves accidentally thinking of six-letter words while trying to come up with five-letter words, the spin-off game Hello Wordl allows players to select how many letters, from four to 11, they would like to appear in the solution. Players can play the word of the day selected by the game's creators, or play multiple rounds with a randomized word as the solution.

If word puzzles aren't your thing, a mathematical version of Wordle also exists. Created by Daniel Tate, Mathler gives you the solution to the puzzle, then asks players to work backwards to solve using basic algebra. Players use a keyboard of numbers,zero through nine, as well as symbols to add, subtract, multiply and divide, in order to arrive at the solution. The game provides six squares to be filled with numbers or operations, which will light up green or yellow like the original Wordle game.

And for those with math skills that go beyond basic algebra, there's Primel, a version of Wordle that asks players to correctly guess the five-digit prime number of the day.

Versions of Wordle also exist for those who don't want to play in English. A crowdsourced list of Wordle games in 93 languages and counting is hosted on GitLab. Some of the languages include Arabic, Tamil and Belter Creole. Even fictional languages, such as Klingon from the series "Star Trek," are available.

But for those players who prefer to stick to the original, Metzger Media has created an archive of every official Wordle word since the day it was launched publicly on June 20, 2021. Players can keep track of their progress through each day of Wordle and pick up where they left off, as long as they play on the same browser every day.

Apple has pulled Wordle knock-offs from its App Store, but like the original Wordle, the spin-offs are available to play on most web browsers. And for those proud of their solutions (or looking to commiserate over their failures), these spin-offs all allow for players to copy and paste their results to share on social media, just like the original game.