Curious about the 5-column blocks of green, grey, and yellow that your friends share on their social media feed every day? That’s Wordle – a free-to-play five-letter word guessing game that is only accessible once every 24 hours. A new word is released per day and players only have six tries to figure out the word of the day. For 90s kids, this is a game that can be likened to Bookworm Adventures Word Master – a mini game which has a similar format, except it’s points-based and no longer available for download.

This 2022, Wordle became such a huge hit here in the Philippines, a local version even made rounds together with other word games to keep everyone busy as we continue to deal with the hard-hitting pandemic. In case you can’t get enough of word games or if ever you need a little brain exercise, here’s a list of free-to-play games to try for all ages:

1. Hello Wordl

For those who can’t wait another 24 hours, there’s a game called Hello Wordl which you can play as many times as you want. Words can be adjusted from five to up to 11 letters to make it more challenging. I’ve tried five to eight but it can be challenging to think of 9-lettered words and above. I highly recommend adults to try guessing the long words! The five-lettered levels are easy enough for kids to try.

2. SWordle

It’s Wordle, except everything is a Star Wars reference. If you think you know your Star Wars terms well enough to be able to guess five-letter words or names in six attempts, then this game is for you. To make it more challenging, terms with a dash (e.g. C3-PO) are included in the mix so you’ll have to use your turns wisely.

3. Saltong

For Filipinos, there’s a game called Saltong which houses pure Filipino terms. Although, I’d have to admit that there are a couple of legitimate Tagalog words that are missing from their words list. There are four versions to choose from — Saltong (five letters), Saltong Mini (four letters), Saltong Max (seven letters), and Saltong Hex if you like something a la Text Twist.

4. Letter Scramble

For Scrabble fans, Letter Scramble would be a good online game to try. All you need to do is create words out of the random letters being thrown out. The tricky part is that vowels are not always available so you’ll have to be creative in spelling. The letters will pile up fast after a few minutes so you’ll have to think quick, too! It’s a good mind exercise and it’s currently my favorite game from Plays.org – an ad-free website which contains different entertaining games for kids and adults.

5. Text or Die

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If you prefer mobile games, there’s an app called Text or Die where you can compete with other players from all over the world. You’ll have to think of the longest word or name that fits the given category so your platform can rise high enough to save your avatar from getting eaten by sharks. It’s a fun game to play to fuel your competitive spirit. The only downside is that it has a lot of ads in between games. Text or Die is available on both Google Play and the Apple App Store.

6. Trivia Puzzle Fortune

Wheel of Fortune fans would appreciate this mobile game based on the popular TV show. You’ll be given hints on how many letters and spaces there are on words or names that belong to a particular category. There’s a limit on how many letters you can buy in one round so you’ll have to think twice before pressing a random letter. To make it more competitive, players are given the choice to compete worldwide by entering a group. For extra coins or tries, you can watch ads. Trivia Puzzle Fortune is available on both Google Play and the Apple App Store.

P.S. Join “Bazinga!!” group if you want to team up with me!

7. World Trivia

For travelers who want to check how familiar they are with popular landmarks, World Trivia at Plays.org would be a good match! It’s similar to the game 4 Pics, 1 Word except there’s only one photo and you’ll have to guess the name of the landmark. There are currently limited locations/countries available but I’d recommend it to those who want to test their knowledge about Europe.

8. SpongeBob SquarePants Word Blocks

When you merge Tetris with Scrabble and Word Hunt, you’d probably get this Word Blocks game inspired by Spongebob Squarepants. The words are mostly Bikini Bottom-related so it would be a good fit for kids who are familiar with the show. Although the first few levels are a no-brainer for adults, it can get challenging as you need to select the right letters in a specific order so the remaining letters on top can fall in the right spaces to form new words. Boxes found on the upper left corner of the screen should be filled in order to pass every round. Overall, it’s a cute game that can help kill time!

In order to play the games mentioned above, simply click on the headings in order to be redirected. For other games that do not require any download or payment, you can visit websites like y8.com or plays.org. I’ve tried a lot of games on these sites already but word games are my favorite. Enjoy! 😊

Feel free to suggest other word games in the comments section, too! I’ve also tried the likes of Wordscapes and crossword puzzles but at the moment, I’m hooked on Wordle and the ones I shared in this blog.

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