Need a tougher Wordle? Try these 6 extra-difficult versions

It seems like almost everyone is playing Wordle these days: The popular puzzle game, now owned by the New York Times, garners millions of players a day and has set social media ablaze.

While there have been some complaints that Wordle has gotten harder in recent days (the New York Times said they haven't made any changes to the game), some players are finding it not quite difficult enough. But did you know there is a way to make the original Wordle a bit harder?

What is Wordle hard mode?

That’s right — the original, classic Wordle has a hard mode!

To toggle on the more difficult version, just go to the game’s settings tab and turn it on. You can also switch to dark mode or high contrast mode, settings that will change the way the game appears on your device.

Hard mode means that any letters you discover must be used in subsequent guesses.

For the expert puzzlers among us still needing more of a challenge, we rounded up some of our favorite, extra-difficult versions of Wordle.

Here are five extra-difficult versions of Wordle:

Absurdle

This tricky game is described as an “adversarial version of Wordle.” In Absurdle, you’re essentially playing against the computer: Instead of trying to guess a set word, the game uses each of your guesses against you to find words with as few similarities as possible to the word you guessed.

To win, the game creator, identified online as qntm, advises trying to “chase Absurdle into a corner” and reach a point where there could only be one word left.

You have unlimited guesses, according to the game’s methodology, and the best score a player can hope for is guessing the secret word in four tries.

If you want some spoilers, the game’s creator has shared some tips, tricks and other hints in a list of frequently asked questions.

Kilordle

“Wordle is fun,” wrote Kilordle’s creator, identified as Jones, in the description for this brain-bending puzzle. “How about a thousand of them at the same time. How does that feel?”

True to its word, Kilordle is just like those other games where you try to solve multiple words at once — but there’s almost no way to win. After all, how can you guess 1,000 unique words, even with seemingly unlimited guesses?

The good thing about Kilordle is you’ll certainly guess at least some of the words. The bad thing? You might be stuck solving for hours. Luckily, a handy tracker at the top of the screen tells you how many words you have left to find.

Mathdle

Forget the written word entirely with Mathdle, which is, you guessed it, based entirely on math. Instead of trying to solve a word, players try to create an equation that results in the provided answer.

This game also has a medium and hard mode. The more difficult versions of Mathdle give you more space to write your equation, and add extra rules.

There’s also the similar Nerdle, which gives you six tries to try to find the winning equation.

Octordle

You’ve tried Dordle, where players try to solve for two words at once, and Quordle, where the target is four words. Make things even more difficult with Octordle.

You guessed it - the object is to try to guess eight five-letter words, using just 13 tries. The hardest part of this game is trying to see everything at once, since there's no way to fit all those squares on one screen.

Still think it's too easy? Give Sedecordle a shot: You've got 21 tries to guess 16 five-letter words.

Star Wordle

This is hardly the only example of a fandom-based Wordle game, but the Star Wordle might be the trickiest because of the amount of "Star Wars" content.

Like all the other games, the goal is guess a five-letter word in six tries or less. However, the words can be almost anything from the "Star Wars" universe, ranging from obscure items mentioned in novelizations to the first names of side characters. According to the game's FAQ, there are roughly 20,000 words in the "Star Wordle" dictionary.

If that still seems too simple, you're in luck: Head over to the settings tab and click into "Hard Mode." That will convert your on-screen keyboard into "Galactic Basic," the fictional language used in the "Star Wars" universe.

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