Do you take your morning coffee with a side of Wordle or New York Times crossword? Or are you more of the midnight release type, racing to solve your word puzzle of choice as fast as you can? Whatever time of day you decide to play, you’re improving your brain health! Word games and puzzles can boost logic, creativity, reasoning, language, and more cognitive functions. During your next snack break, fuel your body and your mind with one of these daily word games.
- Wordle
-
Chances are, you’ve already been playing Wordle or at least seen rows of green and yellow squares in your social media feeds and text messages. This daily guessing game gives you six chances to guess the mystery five-letter word. For such a simple concept, this game has seemingly endless possibilities. Sometimes you’ll feel stumped. Sometimes you’ll feel satisfied. Either way, you’ll probably want to share your results with your friends!
Already a Wordle expert and want a challenge? Try Quordle, where you have to solve four daily Wordles at once!
- The New York Times Crossword
-
The New York Times Crossword is an iconic puzzle you can find online or in a print copy of the Times. Although you need a newspaper subscription to play the full crossword, The Mini Crossword is available to play once per day with no fee. Part word game, part trivia, this type of puzzle is sure to engage your brain. The best part? When you solve it online, a jaunty little jazz tune plays in celebration.
- Pimantle
-
Spelling-based games not your thing? Try Pimantle, the word-guessing game that relies on semantics. Find similarities between your guesses and think of different concepts to reach the daily word. Your guesses are pinned on a map of dots resembling a galaxy, with the secret word represented as a star in the center. The visual guide helps you see the relationships between words which makes guessing fun and engaging.
- Semantle
-
Enjoy Pimantle, but need more of a challenge (or a simpler layout)? As the name suggests, Semantle runs on the same semantics-based game format that Pimantle does, but without the visual map. Instead, you get a similarity score with each guess that can help you narrow down your options. This game will definitely have your brain working.
- The New York Times Letter Boxed
-
Letter Boxed is a game where letters are arranged in a square and you have to spell words to connect the sides and eventually use every letter. It’s trickier than you think, especially since the last letter of the word you choose has to be the starting letter of the next and you can’t connect letters if they’re sitting on the same side of the square. Challenge yourself by trying to solve the puzzle using the least amount of words!
Is your brain tired yet? These word games can be quite the mind workout! As tough as they can be sometimes, it sure is satisfying to solve them. Which games are you going to add to your daily routine?
Can’t get enough of HC UMass Amherst? Be sure to follow us on Instagram, listen to us on Spotify, like us on Facebook, and read our latest Tweets!