Digits was short lived but will never be forgotten. It was a true maths game, combining a selection of numbers by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing to hit a target number. It was unlike any of the other offerings, but it seems that the NYT found their niche in word games. R.I.P. Digits, you are missed.
While Spelling Bee might be fun while it lasts, you can’t win without paying. It masquerades as a free game, but as soon as you get into the swing, you’re asked to subscribe. As enjoyable as it may be (finding a panagram feels like an epiphany), it just cannot compete with its free counterparts.
Sudoku is an amazing game that’s relaxing, engaging, and actually improves your brain function, but NYT’s take on it is just fine. There are plenty of free apps and obviously many puzzle books which offer Sudoku in a better format than the NYT website, with more game modes, variety, and more stats to track your improvements.
Unique, visually pleasing, and relatively easy, Tiles is a satisfying puzzle to start on, or a good game to end on after a bad run. Players select a tile which is made up of three coloured elements (a background, a large shape, and a small shape, usually), and the next tile selected must contain one corresponding element, the same shape and colour. No two tiles are the same.
Letterboxed is a great word game because, unlike the others that NYT offer, there is a huge selection of right answers and ways to win. All you need to do is use each of the nine letters at least once, and try to do so in less than five words. Set out as a square, with three letters per side, the challenge is that players cannot use letters from the same side in a row. It's fun, unique, and allows players to try over and over; Letterboxed is NYT’s most original word game that is great to play every day.
Strands is a spin on a wordsearch, where players must fill the grid with words relating to a theme, using each letter once. With this one, practice makes perfect; it can be a little frustrating to rely on hints at first, but you learn and get better with every clue. Day on day, there will be fewer and fewer lightbulbs in your results diagram, and this improvement is rewarding in itself, let alone watching the grid fill up. Like Sudoku, wordsearches have been found to improve brain function, so playing Strands has the added benefit of truly exercising your brain.
While the NYT’s main crossword requires a subscription to play, the fast-paced Mini fills the gap and brings with it its own set of challenges - self-imposed time restraints, finding specific vocabulary in the back of your mind, and knowledge of specific people, places, and events. The Mini is productive, enjoyable, and seeing “Congratulations! You solved The Mini in [barely any time at all]” pop up is a huge ego-boost.
The Wordle is the it girl of NYT games. Players must guess a five letter word in six attempts, with letters going grey if they aren’t present in the word, yellow if they’re present but in the wrong slot, and green if they are correctly placed. It was originally developed by Josh Wardle for his partner, who narrowed the list of over 12,000 five-letter words to just 2,500 that would be fair for players to try to guess before Josh posted the game online. When the NYT acquired Wordle, it already had two million players and was subject to online conversation, memes, and was quickly becoming a part of day-to-day life. Competition between friends and online strangers was notable on X (formerly Twitter) after Josh added the classic emoji sharing screen to brag about your Wordle prowess without spoiling the word. Its simplicity makes it enjoyable, yet the tactics that go into playing mean that you can beat your friends and family with more than just luck.
Connections is NYT’s categorisation game, as 16 words must be be divided into four categories - if players can spot and avoid red herring. It is very American, but practice really does make perfect. Once players realise how formulaic purple categories are, or that the yellow category is not that easy (Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and Oscar were not a group), the game opens up. It is unique, fun, frustrating, and everything a puzzle game should be.
