So long, Wordle—Knotwords is my new daily word-game obsession

Enlarge / A word game that's as addictive as a "DRUG."

The viral success of Wordle has reminded the world of how compelling a good word game can be (even if that game is not exactly new). But if you're anything like me, the daily Wordle grind has probably started to feel a bit monotonous by now.

After months of daily puzzles, there's just not enough depth to Wordle's simple five-letter guessing game to really keep pushing a regular player to interesting new places. Variations that limit the possible word space (i.e., Lewdle) or tack on more simultaneous games (i.e., Sedecordle) bring back some of the novelty but can only go so far.

For players ready for a bit more depth in their daily word puzzles, I can't recommend Knotwords enough. The game, which comes in free and paid versions, combines the jigsaw-like intersecting letter arrangements of a crossword puzzle with the positional logic of a math puzzle like kenken, creating a truly unique and addictive brain teaser. After spending a week tearing through dozens of Knotwords puzzles, I'm pleased to say I'm still eager for more.