The best daily number games

What makes a daily game work

The formula is simple: one puzzle a day, everyone gets the same one, and it takes less than five minutes. The limit is the point. You play, you compare with friends, and you come back tomorrow.

Wordle started the wave in late 2021. Since then, dozens of daily puzzles have appeared, each with its own twist. The ones below focus on numbers, estimation and geography.

Magnitudle

One estimation question a day: how many trees on Earth, how heavy is the Great Pyramid, how far is the Moon. You type a number and are scored on how many orders of magnitude you were off. The game also includes Survival mode, a Higher or Lower mode, an order of magnitude quiz and Size It Up, a visual size comparison game.

Free, no account, available in English, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

Nerdle

Wordle, but for equations. You guess a calculation such as 12+34=46 and the game tells you which digits and symbols are correct. Six guesses, one puzzle a day.

Worldle

A geography game. You are shown the outline of a country and guess which one it is. After each guess, the game tells you how far your answer is from the target and in which direction.

Globle

Another geography daily. You guess countries and the map colours them by how close they are to the answer: cold for far away, hot for nearby. No limit on guesses, but fewer is better.

Contexto

Not a number game strictly, but a daily word puzzle that ranks your guesses by how semantically close they are to the target word. The closer the ranking, the warmer you are.

Waffle

A word game on a grid. The letters are already placed but scrambled, and you swap them to form six words at once. Fifteen swaps, no more.

How to pick the right one

• If you like estimation and want to sharpen your sense of scale, try Magnitudle.
• If you enjoy pure arithmetic puzzles, try Nerdle.
• If you want to test your geography, try Worldle or Globle.
• If you want a longer word puzzle, try Waffle or Contexto.
• Most are free and take less than five minutes. Stack two or three into a morning routine.