Games likeConnections

12 games like Connections for people who see patterns everywhere

Updated October 22, 2026 · 12 games, each checked on its maker's site · 8 min read

Connections gives you sixteen words and one job: find the four groups of four that belong together, before your fourth mistake. The New York Times launched it in June 2023, its editor Wyna Liu builds every board by hand, and the colour of each solved group tells you how hard it was meant to be, from yellow to purple. The daily puzzle is free; past puzzles are in an archive for NYT Games subscribers.

Very few games copy that grid exactly, and the ones that do are mostly here. The rest share the skill underneath it: spotting the hidden link between words while ignoring the ones that only look like they fit. Each pick says how close it comes to the sixteen-tile board, so you can choose between more of the same and a fresh way to think about words.

How we picked

We looked for games that ask the Connections question, what do these words have in common, and reward you for resisting the obvious answer. We tried each game on its own site or store listing on October 22, 2026, noting how it plays, how long a puzzle lasts and the price.

We left out the many sites that copy the New York Times' puzzles or put its game's name in their own, which is why there is no "Connections unlimited" clone on this list. Ratings are ours, out of 5, and weigh how much a game feels like a good Connections board as well as its quality, price and ads.

3 of the 12 are games we make, marked Made by us · Gamefinity. They are rated on the same scale as the rest and placed where they honestly fit.

PuzzGrid

User-made grouping grids · by PuzzGrid

Price
Free, with ads
Time per game
3–5 min a grid
How often
As many as you like
Our rating
4.5 / 5
What it costs
Every grid is free with ads; PuzzGrid Pro removes ads and adds stats and hints
Platforms
Browser
Best for
Playing grid after grid

What it is

A site of thousands of sixteen-clue grids made by its players, inspired by the Connecting Wall round of the British TV quiz Only Connect. You sort the clues into four groups of four, then type what links each group for extra points. Players rate every grid, and the ratings set its difficulty.

Why it's like Connections

It is the same four-by-four sort with deliberate red herrings, and you never run out: when one grid is done there are thousands more, from easy to fiendish.

What's different

Once you have found two groups, you only get three more tries, as on the TV show, and naming the links is part of the score. Because grids are made by users, quality varies and many lean on trivia as well as wordplay.

Play PuzzGridChecked Oct 22, 2026

Connections: Sports Edition

Daily sports grouping puzzle · by The Athletic (The New York Times Company)

Price
Free
Time per game
2–8 min
How often
One a day
Our rating
4.5 / 5
What it costs
Free to play without a subscription
Platforms
Browser, iPhone and iPad, Android
Best for
Sports fans who already play Connections

What it is

The official sports version of Connections from The Athletic, the New York Times' sports newsroom, written by Mark Cooper. It ran in beta from September 2024 and launched properly in February 2025, with the same sixteen tiles and four-mistake limit.

Why it's like Connections

It is Connections, rules, colours and all, from the same company. If you can solve the daily grid, you already know how to play.

What's different

Every word and category is about sport: teams, players, slang and stats, so knowledge counts as much as wordplay. It also has an optional timer for players who want a race.

Play Connections: Sports EditionChecked Oct 22, 2026

Red Herring

Word-grouping puzzle app · by Blue Ox Family Games

Price
Free, extras paid
Time per game
3–8 min
How often
Daily, plus unlimited
Our rating
4.0 / 5
What it costs
Free download with 25 puzzles and a free daily; packs $1.99 to $4.99; ads
Platforms
iPhone and iPad, Android
Best for
Players who love the decoys most

What it is

A mobile puzzle from the makers of 7 Little Words, first released in 2014, long before Connections. Each puzzle has sixteen words and phrases: three hidden groups of four, plus four red herrings planted to mislead you. Puzzles are hand-made in three difficulty levels.

Why it's like Connections

Sixteen tiles, groups of four and decoys designed to trip you up: the parts of Connections that make purple groups so satisfying are the whole point here.

What's different

Only three groups are real; the fourth set shares nothing. There is no mistake limit, and most puzzles come in paid packs rather than one free puzzle a day.

Play Red HerringChecked Oct 22, 2026

Synonym Sprint

Made by us · GamefinityFast synonym game

Synonym Sprint cover art (a game we make)
Price
Free
Time per game
1–2 min
How often
As many as you like
Our rating
3.5 / 5
What it costs
Free in the browser, no download or sign-up
Platforms
Browser, phone and computer
Best for
A word-meaning workout between dailies

What it is

A word lands on a sun in the middle of a star chart, and planets around it each carry a word. One of them means the same; tap it and the next word arrives. You begin with 25 seconds and earn two more for each correct pick, a single wrong tap ends the run, and extra planets appear the further you get.

Why it's like Connections

Connections is often won by spotting that four words share a meaning, and this trains exactly that reflex: reading a set of words quickly and seeing which one belongs with another.

What's different

It is a speed game, not a puzzle you can stare at: one pairing at a time, a running clock and no categories to name. There is no daily grid to share.

Play Synonym Sprint on GamefinityOur game: rated as strictly as the rest

Conexo

Daily word-grouping puzzle · by Daydash

Price
Free, with ads
Time per game
2–6 min
How often
One a day
Our rating
4.0 / 5
What it costs
Free with ads; a paid Daydash Pass removes them
Platforms
Browser, iPhone and iPad, Android
Best for
A gentler daily grid

What it is

A daily puzzle of sixteen words in four hidden groups of four, from the Brazilian studio behind Contexto. It started in Portuguese and is also playable in English, and each puzzle credits its author. Select four words and the game checks the group straight away.

Why it's like Connections

Four secret groups of four a day, solved by picking four tiles at a time: the format is as close to Connections as anything here.

What's different

There is no four-mistake limit; a wrong group just adds to your count, and hints are available. Its main audience is Portuguese-speaking, so the English puzzles can feel less polished.

Play ConexoChecked Oct 22, 2026

Codenames Daily

Daily word-association puzzles · by Czech Games Edition

Price
Free
Time per game
5–10 min for four
How often
One a day
Our rating
4.0 / 5
What it costs
Free in the browser; the full Codenames app is sold separately
Platforms
Browser
Best for
Fans of the Codenames board game

What it is

Four free solo puzzles a day in the browser, based on Vlaada Chvátil's word-association board game. Each gives you one clue, and you pick the words on the board it points to while avoiding the assassin card. The puzzles are chosen by curators from millions made by players of the Codenames app.

Why it's like Connections

It asks the same question as Connections from the other side: which of these words share a hidden link, and which only look as if they do?

What's different

You are handed the link and must find the words, rather than finding the words and naming the link. There are no groups of four and no colours to work through.

Play Codenames DailyChecked Oct 22, 2026

Strands

Daily themed word search · by The New York Times Company

Price
Free
Time per game
3–10 min
How often
One a day
Our rating
4.0 / 5
What it costs
The daily is free; the archive is for NYT Games subscribers
Platforms
Browser, iPhone and iPad, Android
Best for
The next game in the same app

What it is

The New York Times' daily themed word search: a 6×8 grid of letters and a cryptic theme, with theme words to find by joining neighbouring letters and one spangram that names the theme and runs from one side of the board to the other.

Why it's like Connections

It comes from the same team and app, and the hard part is the same: working out what an oddly worded theme really means and which words belong to it.

What's different

It is a word search, not a sorting grid, with one theme instead of four and no mistakes to lose. Finding other words earns hints.

Play StrandsChecked Oct 22, 2026

Common Ground

Made by us · GamefinityDaily think-alike game

Common Ground cover art (a game we make)
Price
Free
Time per game
About 1 min
How often
One a day
Our rating
3.5 / 5
What it costs
Free in the browser, no download or sign-up
Platforms
Browser, phone and computer
Best for
Testing how your associations match others'

What it is

Each day's ten prompts are the same for everybody, from colours to famous first names, and you get ten seconds to type the first thing each one makes you think of. Then your answers sit beside those of someone who played earlier that day, and every answer you share lights up.

Why it's like Connections

Connections is a game about shared associations, and so is this: it shows you how your mind links a prompt to an answer compared with everyone else's, with a new set each day.

What's different

There is nothing to sort and no grid. You produce answers instead of grouping given words, and the score depends on who you are matched with.

Play Common Ground on GamefinityOur game: rated as strictly as the rest

Netflix Puzzled

Daily word and logic puzzles · by Netflix, Inc.

Price
Free
Time per game
2–5 min a puzzle
How often
One a day
Our rating
3.5 / 5
What it costs
The daily puzzles are free without a Netflix account; extra packs need a subscription
Platforms
Browser, iPhone and iPad, Android
Best for
A bundle of short dailies

What it is

Netflix's set of daily puzzles, launched in November 2025 and playable on its Tudum website or in an app. The word games include Waywords, a themed path through a board of words with decoys to avoid, and Combo, a chain of words that each join the next to make a new word or phrase.

Why it's like Connections

Waywords in particular is close in spirit: find the words that fit a theme and steer around the ones placed to fool you.

What's different

There is no sixteen-tile grid, and it is a mix of puzzle types rather than one game. Extra packs and missed days are for Netflix members.

Play Netflix PuzzledChecked Oct 22, 2026

Pinpoint

Daily name-the-category game · by LinkedIn

Price
Free
Time per game
1–3 min
How often
One a day
Our rating
3.5 / 5
What it costs
Free, with no paid tier seen
Platforms
Browser, iPhone and iPad, Android
Best for
Practising the naming half of Connections

What it is

LinkedIn's daily category game: five words with something in common are revealed one by one, and after each reveal you may type what you think links them, scoring better the sooner you get it. LinkedIn added it in May 2024, and your connections can see how you did.

Why it's like Connections

Naming the hidden category is half of every Connections solve, and Pinpoint isolates it: it is the moment you realise what the purple group is, as a game of its own.

What's different

One category of five clues instead of four groups, typed rather than sorted, with no mistakes to spend. It lives inside LinkedIn.

Play PinpointChecked Oct 22, 2026

Rank It

Made by us · GamefinityPut-in-order trivia

Rank It cover art (a game we make)
Price
Free
Time per game
About 2 min
How often
Daily, plus unlimited
Our rating
3.0 / 5
What it costs
Free in the browser, no download or sign-up
Platforms
Browser, phone and computer
Best for
A sorting puzzle with real numbers

What it is

Five things and one question, such as most calories or farthest north. You drag five fridge magnets into order before the timer rings, then each gets its real value and a line on why the order surprises people.

Why it's like Connections

Like a Connections board, it hands you a small set of items and asks you to sort them by a property you have to think about, with a reveal that often shows the obvious answer was the trap.

What's different

It is about ordering by facts, not grouping by meaning or wordplay, so it uses a different kind of knowledge.

Play Rank It on GamefinityOur game: rated as strictly as the rest

Raddle

Daily clued word ladder · by Sandy Weisz

Price
Free
Time per game
3–8 min
How often
One a day
Our rating
3.5 / 5
What it costs
Free, with an archive of past puzzles
Platforms
Browser
Best for
Players who enjoy clever clues

What it is

A daily word ladder from a Chicago puzzle designer, launched in March 2025: turn a start word into an end word one step at a time, with a clue for each step. The clues are given out of order, and each puzzle has a theme.

Why it's like Connections

It is hand-made wordplay with a hidden theme, the same pleasure as a well-built purple group, and it takes about as long as a Connections board.

What's different

You climb a ladder of linked words, solving clue by clue, rather than sorting a grid into groups.

Play RaddleChecked Oct 22, 2026

All 12 side by side

#GameTypeHow oftenTimePricePlatformsRating
01PuzzGridUser-made grouping gridsAs many as you like3–5 min a gridFree, with adsBrowser4.5 / 5
02Connections: Sports EditionDaily sports grouping puzzleOne a day2–8 minFreeBrowser, iPhone and iPad, Android4.5 / 5
03Red HerringWord-grouping puzzle appDaily, plus unlimited3–8 minFree, extras paidiPhone and iPad, Android4.0 / 5
04Synonym Sprint OursFast synonym gameAs many as you like1–2 minFreeBrowser, phone and computer3.5 / 5
05ConexoDaily word-grouping puzzleOne a day2–6 minFree, with adsBrowser, iPhone and iPad, Android4.0 / 5
06Codenames DailyDaily word-association puzzlesOne a day5–10 min for fourFreeBrowser4.0 / 5
07StrandsDaily themed word searchOne a day3–10 minFreeBrowser, iPhone and iPad, Android4.0 / 5
08Common Ground OursDaily think-alike gameOne a dayAbout 1 minFreeBrowser, phone and computer3.5 / 5
09Netflix PuzzledDaily word and logic puzzlesOne a day2–5 min a puzzleFreeBrowser, iPhone and iPad, Android3.5 / 5
10PinpointDaily name-the-category gameOne a day1–3 minFreeBrowser, iPhone and iPad, Android3.5 / 5
11Rank It OursPut-in-order triviaDaily, plus unlimitedAbout 2 minFreeBrowser, phone and computer3.0 / 5
12RaddleDaily clued word ladderOne a day3–8 minFreeBrowser3.5 / 5

Where to start

For the closest experience, play the Sports Edition alongside the daily grid, and open PuzzGrid whenever one board a day is not enough. If the red herrings are your favourite part, Red Herring is built entirely around them.

Questions people ask

Is there an unlimited version of Connections?

Not from the New York Times, which publishes one puzzle a day and keeps past ones in an archive for subscribers. PuzzGrid has thousands of user-made grids in the same format; our unlimited Connections page covers the archive and the free alternatives.

Is Connections free?

Yes, the daily puzzle is free on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app. The archive of past puzzles, which opened in October 2024, is for NYT Games and All Access subscribers.

What is the game most like Connections?

Connections: Sports Edition is the same game with sports words, from the same company. Outside the New York Times, PuzzGrid and Conexo use the same sixteen-word, four-group grid.

Where did the idea for Connections come from?

Grouping puzzles are old, and many players have pointed out that Connections resembles the Connecting Wall round of the BBC quiz Only Connect, on air since 2008. The New York Times has said grouped words are a common theme in games and that its puzzles are made by hand.

How many mistakes can you make in Connections?

Four: the fourth wrong group ends the game and shows the answers. A guess that is "one away" still counts as a mistake. Our Connections tips explain how to use that message.

More from Games Like Connections