Waffle

About Waffle

Waffle was made by James Robinson and went live in February 2022, part of the wave of daily games that followed Wordle. It caught on quickly, and Robinson went on to found Waffle Studio in Portsmouth, which also makes other daily puzzles. A book of Waffle puzzles was published in 2026.

The board is a five-by-five square with four holes punched in it, which gives it the waffle look. Three words run across and three run down, sharing the letters where they cross. All the right letters are already on the board, just in the wrong places. Tiles are coloured like Wordle: green is correct, yellow means the letter belongs in that row or column but in another spot, and grey means it does not belong in that word. A yellow tile on a crossing square could belong to either word, which is where most of the thinking happens.

You drag one tile onto another to swap them, and every puzzle can be solved in ten swaps. You have fifteen, and each swap you have left at the end is worth a star, so a perfect solve earns five. There is no guessing involved; it is closer to a logic puzzle with words. Once a week there is a Deluxe Waffle on a bigger grid with 25 swaps, and the site also has Number Waffle, an archive of old puzzles and a premium daily called Waffle Royale.

Waffle suits players who like Wordle's colours but prefer working things out to guessing, and who want a short puzzle with a clear score.

How to play Waffle

1. Look at the grid: three words across and three down, all five letters long, with scrambled letters.
2. Read the colours: green tiles are in place, yellow tiles belong elsewhere in that word, grey tiles belong in a different word.
3. Drag a tile onto another tile to swap them.
4. Keep swapping until every tile is green and all six words are spelled out.
5. Finish within fifteen swaps; each unused swap is a star, up to five.

Tips

• Before moving anything, work out a word or two from the green letters and the pool of loose letters.
• Corner tiles sit in two words, so a yellow corner could belong to either; check both words before moving it.
• Look for swaps that turn both tiles green at once; those are how you reach the ten-swap minimum.
• Count the letters: every letter you need is already on the board, so missing vowels or doubled consonants narrow the options.
• If you run out of swaps you can keep trying, but plan the last few moves on paper before spending them.

Questions