Free NYT Games Alternative
Four daily puzzles spanning words, math, and logic — with competitive leaderboards. No subscription. No ads. Just puzzles.
Four daily puzzles spanning words, math, and logic — with competitive leaderboards. No subscription. No ads. Just puzzles.
The New York Times Games app has become a daily habit for millions. Wordle, Connections, Strands, the Mini Crossword — there's real joy in having a fresh puzzle to solve each morning. But as NYT has expanded its games suite, more features have moved behind the subscription paywall. If you want access to archives, stats, or the full collection, you're paying.
PEMDAS Games takes a different approach. Four daily puzzles — spanning word guessing, word search, math equations, and logic — all completely free. No paywall for archives. No subscription to unlock features. No ads interrupting your solve. Every game resets daily with the same puzzle for all players, keeping competition fair and the experience shared.
What sets PEMDAS apart from most NYT Games alternatives is the competitive layer. Every puzzle is timed, and every player is ranked on a global leaderboard. You can follow friends and see exactly how your solve time stacks up. It turns the solo daily puzzle ritual into something social and competitive — the part that NYT Games hints at with shareable results, but never fully commits to.
Here's how each PEMDAS game maps to the NYT experience: Speed Word is your Wordle replacement (same 5-letter, color-coded guessing). Speed Stars fills the Queens-shaped hole (star-placement logic on a grid). Word Slide and Math Slide add puzzle types NYT doesn't even offer — sliding mechanics applied to words and equations. Four games, zero cost, daily competition.
Your Wordle replacement. Guess the daily 5-letter word with color-coded clues — but race the clock and compete on leaderboards.
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Slide columns to uncover hidden words. A unique daily word puzzle that NYT doesn't offer — fast, fun, and competitive.
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Slide numbers into place to complete math equations. A daily math challenge you won't find in NYT Games.
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Place one star per row, column, and color region. A logic puzzle similar to NYT Queens — timed and competitive.
Learn MorePEMDAS Games offers four daily puzzles: Speed Word (a Wordle-style word guessing game), Word Slide (a sliding word search), Math Slide (a math equation puzzle), and Speed Stars (a logic star-placement game similar to Queens). All are free and competitive.
Yes, completely free. Unlike NYT Games which requires a subscription to access archives and some features, every PEMDAS game is free to play with no ads, no paywall, and no account required.
NYT Games focuses on solo puzzles like Wordle, Connections, and Strands. PEMDAS Games offers similar variety — word, math, and logic puzzles — but adds timed competition with global leaderboards and friend challenges. Think of it as NYT Games with a competitive layer.
Yes, all four games are playable directly in your web browser at pemdasapp.com. You can also download the app on iOS or Android for the full experience with push notifications and friend challenges.
Yes. Speed Stars is a logic puzzle where you place one star per row, column, and color region — very similar to NYT Queens. It's timed and competitive, with a new puzzle every day.
