All around the country, on college and high school campuses, in the workforce, and in the comfort of one’s own home, the Wordle craze has taken people by storm. Few mobile games have become this big of a phenomenon, and even fewer of those have put the player’s brain to the test. For those searching for games that force them to use strategy and logic, look no further than this list.
2048
This game has been around for a while, but it finds its way back into the limelight every once in a while. The player must combine numbers, starting with twos and fours, up until they reach the number 2,048 without filling up the whole grid. Reaching the goal of 2048 is incredibly gratifying, as is reaching 4096 and other feats beyond that. With so many versions of the original 2048 game or tetris-style variations like 2048 Bricks, it’s difficult to get sick of a game that keeps pushing your strategic skills. This game is available online or on the app store.
Water Sort Puzzle
The name of this game is pretty self explanatory: there are several tubes with different color liquids and the player must strategize to separate all the colors into their own tubes. There are over 1,000 levels to this game, with levels that add tubes, add more colors, or only provide “mystery colors” that only reveal themselves once they are on the top layer of liquid. This app can be found in the app store.
Sudoku
As a certified old lady, I love sudoku. The game uses nine three-by-three grids to make up a large grid in which a different number (one through nine) must be used in each row, column, and square. The player must use their logic skills to ensure that no numbers are used twice in each respective row, column, or square, which is the hard part. My personal favorite sudoku app is Sudoku.com on the app store, which has an “undo” button and hides each number when they have been placed in every correct spot.
Nonograms
Nonograms takes multiple sized grids ranging from five-by-five to twenty-by-twenty and gives each row and column a specific amount of squares that need to be filled in. The player can switch off between placing squares and exes on the grid to create a picture when it’s complete. For example, in a five-by-five grid, if one row calls for five squares, the entire row would be filled out. If there are multiple numbers in one row, there must be an X between them. On that same five-by-five grid, two and two would be filled as two squares, an X, and two more squares. This game can be found on the app store under Nonogram.com, but beware: it is incredibly addicting.
Wordle
Ladies and gentlemen, the main event: Wordle. This game, recently purchased by the New York Times, has been taking the internet by storm over the past few weeks. In case this phenomenon is new to any readers, the game gives the player six chances to guess a five-letter word in a daily challenge that resets at midnight every night. Many people use different strategies to find the word of the day, such as those with multiple vowels and commonly used consonants. Correct letters are highlighted in green and letters in the wrong place are highlighted in yellow. There has been speculation over whether the game has been “ruined” after new ownership was taken, but I personally think that adding the usage of multiples of the same letter makes it more interesting and challenging. The game can be found through google or the NYT website.