LMP Daily Games Guide · Games like…
Games like Connections
If you like Connections, try Strands (a themed word search from the same NYT team), Contexto and Semantle (finding a word by its meaning), Murdle (deduction), STRANDED (creative answers where the less obvious one scores most) and Quordle (four word puzzles at once).
LMP makes STRANDED, and it is marked wherever it appears. Every other game here is made by someone else and is not affiliated with us. Nobody paid to be listed.
What makes Connections work
Connections gives you sixteen words and asks for four groups of four. The trick is that most words look like they belong in two groups, and the hardest group is often wordplay. You can make four mistakes. What you are really practising is spotting the less obvious link.
Games that scratch the same itch
1.Strands
Find the day's themed words in a letter grid, including a spangram that spans the board, until every letter is used.
From the same NYT Games team: a themed word search where working out the theme is half the puzzle.
Visit Strands →2.Contexto
Find a secret word with unlimited guesses; each guess is ranked by how close its meaning is, with the answer at number 1.
Also about how words relate to each other, but you search for one word by meaning.
Visit Contexto →3.Semantle
Guess a secret word; each guess gets a similarity score from a language model, with 100 meaning you found it.
Contexto, harder: a similarity score and a lot of patience.
Visit Semantle →4.STRANDEDMade by LMP
Answer six open-ended questions a day; the fewer players who gave your answer, the more it scores, and the further a crashed alien runs on his way home.
Where Connections rewards spotting the hidden link, STRANDED rewards giving the less obvious answer. Six open-ended questions a day; the fewer players who gave yours, the more it scores. Made by LMP.
Play STRANDED free →5.Murdle
Solve a short murder mystery each day: work out who did it, with what and where, from clues and a deduction grid.
If you enjoy the deduction, Murdle is a logic grid with a mystery attached.
Visit Murdle →6.Quordle
Solve four five-letter words at once, with every guess going on all four boards and nine guesses in all.
If you enjoy the pressure of juggling several answers at once.
Visit Quordle →7.WavelengthNot daily
One player gives a clue for a hidden point on a spectrum between two ideas; their team turns a dial to where they think it is.
Connections with people: guessing how someone else links ideas. A party game, not a daily one.
Visit Wavelength →Compared
| Game | What you do | Session | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strands | Find the day's themed words in a letter grid, including a spangram that spans the board, until every letter is used. | 5 to 10 minutes | Free |
| Contexto | Find a secret word with unlimited guesses; each guess is ranked by how close its meaning is, with the answer at number 1. | 5 to 20 minutes | Free |
| Semantle | Guess a secret word; each guess gets a similarity score from a language model, with 100 meaning you found it. | 10 minutes to an hour | Free |
| STRANDED | Answer six open-ended questions a day; the fewer players who gave your answer, the more it scores, and the further a crashed alien runs on his way home. | About 2 minutes | Free; no account needed |
| Murdle | Solve a short murder mystery each day: work out who did it, with what and where, from clues and a deduction grid. | 5 to 15 minutes | Free daily puzzle |
| Quordle | Solve four five-letter words at once, with every guess going on all four boards and nine guesses in all. | 5 to 10 minutes | Free |
Try STRANDED, the daily game we make
STRANDED is a free daily browser game made by Last Minute Productions. Each day everyone gets the same six open-ended questions, such as "Name something you shouldn't do on a first date." Each accepted answer scores between 1 and 500 points depending on how few other players gave it, and the total out of 3,000 decides how far a small crashed alien gets on his way home and which of nine endings he reaches.
Play STRANDED free Made by Last Minute Productions, the publisher of this guide.How to play STRANDED
- Open stranded.run. It runs in any phone or computer browser. There is nothing to download and no sign-up.
- Answer six questions, 25 seconds each. If an answer is not on the list, you lose nothing and can try another until the clock runs out.
- Rarer answers score more. An answer given by about 30% of players is worth around 100 points; one given by fewer than 1 in 200 is worth 500.
- Watch the alien run. He runs through the woods, the farm, downtown and Area 39 as your points add up.
- See your ending. Your total decides which of nine endings you get. Scores of 2,201 or more reach the secret one and a bonus question.
The full rules and the scoring table are on the how to play STRANDED page.
Why come back tomorrow
A new run with six new questions opens every day at midnight US Central time, and everyone gets one try. Finishing on consecutive days builds a streak, which earns silver, gold and diamond skins at 10, 25 and 50 days.
Accounts and saved progress
You can play STRANDED without an account. Signing in with Google is optional: it keeps your streak and skins on any device, gives you a player name, and lets you start a friends' race and appear on race and creator leaderboards. Without signing in, your progress is kept in your browser.
Questions people ask
What games are like NYT Connections?
Strands from the same NYT Games team, Contexto and Semantle for word meaning, Murdle for deduction, Quordle for several words at once, and STRANDED for open-ended answers where the less obvious one scores most.
Is there a game like Connections with no wrong answers?
STRANDED: each daily question accepts hundreds of answers, and the score depends on how few players gave yours, not on finding one solution.
Are games like Connections free?
Strands, Contexto, Semantle, Murdle's daily puzzle, Quordle and STRANDED can all be played free in a browser.