New word games for daily players

You finished today's Wordle in four and it is not even 9 a.m. Here are newer word games to play next, from The Atlantic's Bracket City to the other New York Times dailies, plus a way to make a word game out of your group chat's inside jokes.

Word games to play after Wordle

Bracket City (The Atlantic). Clues nested inside brackets. Solve the inner ones and the outer clue starts to make sense. Free, with the archive included.
Strands (The New York Times). Find themed words hidden in a letter grid, with one word that spans the board.
Connections (The New York Times, 2023). Sort 16 words into four groups. The hard part is the red herring that fits two groups.
Spelling Bee (The New York Times). Make as many words as you can from seven letters, always using the center one.
Wordle (Josh Wardle, The New York Times since 2022). Still the daily start for millions. It is still one of the most searched word games in the US.

Make a word game from your group chat

The best word game for a group is one only your group can solve. Inside jokes, nicknames, the restaurant you always end up at. Daily games are fun because everyone gets the same puzzle. A group game is fun because nobody outside gets it at all.

Guess the word. Six tries, but every answer is a word from your chat.
Who said it. A quote appears, you guess which friend sent it.
Group connections. Sixteen names, places and jokes. Sort them into four groups only you would know.

Make a quick word game on Roam

If you want something faster than a daily word game, make one. Describe it in a sentence on Roam, a free iPhone app: five letters, ten seconds a guess, and your friends' inside jokes as the answers.

Turn your group chat into a word game

Describe the rules and drop in the words. Roam makes it a game on your iPhone that you can send to the chat. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.

Try: "word guessing game using only words from our group chat, 6 tries, a meme plays when you win, friends can race"

Create it with Roam Pre-register on Android See Roam

Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play.

Questions people ask

What is Bracket City?

A daily word puzzle from The Atlantic where clues are nested inside brackets. You solve from the inside out. It is free to play.

What word game is most like Wordle?

The closest daily games are the other New York Times puzzles, like Strands and Spelling Bee. Connections is about groups of words instead of letters.

Can I make my own word game?

Yes. On Roam you describe the rules and the words, and it comes back as a playable game you can share with friends.