Heardle, a daily musical puzzle, is the latest iteration of the Wordle game. Unsplash
Heardle, a daily musical puzzle, is the latest iteration of the Wordle game. Unsplash
Heardle, a daily musical puzzle, is the latest iteration of the Wordle game. Unsplash
Heardle, a daily musical puzzle, is the latest iteration of the Wordle game. Unsplash

Heardle is Wordle but for music fans


Razmig Bedirian
  • English
  • Arabic

A new game following the format of Wordle is bringing rhythm to the viral internet puzzle format.

Heardle.app is a guessing game where, instead of trying to decipher a five-letter word, players listen to the opening seconds of a pop song, and try to figure out its title and artist.

The musical game takes another cue from Wordle in that you have six guesses to try to work out the daily puzzle, but it has several unique elements. Incorrect guesses unlock more of the song to give you a better chance of solving it, for example. You also have the option to skip guesses and listen to more of the song.

“Each Heardle is randomly plucked from a list of the most-streamed songs in the past decade,” says the site. So it’s a good way to test whether you’ve had your finger on the music pulse for the past few years. The songs, the page says, are being pulled from SoundCloud.

As with the game it is inspired by, Heardle has a sharing feature that allows you to copy a series of coloured blocks to let people know how many guesses it took you to work out the puzzle, without giving away the answer.

Heardle is only the latest iteration of the Wordle game.

Josh Wardle's viral word game amassed millions of players within only a few months and has been bought by The New York Times. Since it launched, it has inspired several other developers to release the game in various languages, including Arabic.

There are also other spin-offs of the game goading players to guess words, from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series and Pokemon, for example, and there's Worldle for geography whizzes and Nerdle for maths fans.

Nine word games similar to Wordle to play — in pictures:

  • 'Hello Wordl' is a remake of 'Wordle' and is played in the same way, except you can do it more than once and change the length of the words.
    'Hello Wordl' is a remake of 'Wordle' and is played in the same way, except you can do it more than once and change the length of the words.
  • 'Absurdle' is the 'adversarial variant' of 'Wordle'.
    'Absurdle' is the 'adversarial variant' of 'Wordle'.
  • 'Letterle' is a mischievous spoof game that makes players guess a single letter each day.
    'Letterle' is a mischievous spoof game that makes players guess a single letter each day.
  • 'Letterpress' is an unlimited, free game where you unscramble tiles to spell words against friends and random opponents.
    'Letterpress' is an unlimited, free game where you unscramble tiles to spell words against friends and random opponents.
  • 'Word Forward' features a 5x5 grid of letter combinations that you can use to make words.
    'Word Forward' features a 5x5 grid of letter combinations that you can use to make words.
  • 'Kitty Letter' is from the makers of 'Exploding Kittens'.
    'Kitty Letter' is from the makers of 'Exploding Kittens'.
  • 'SpellTower' is like 'Tetris' meets 'Boggle'.
    'SpellTower' is like 'Tetris' meets 'Boggle'.
  • 'TypeShift' allows players to spell words using sliding letters in columns.
    'TypeShift' allows players to spell words using sliding letters in columns.
  • 'Word Master' is strikingly similar to 'Wordle' except you can play more than one a day.
    'Word Master' is strikingly similar to 'Wordle' except you can play more than one a day.
  • 'Wordle' has gone viral and amassed hundreds of thousands of players in a few months. AFP
    'Wordle' has gone viral and amassed hundreds of thousands of players in a few months. AFP
Updated: March 06, 2022, 7:45 AM