In Other Words

Connect seemingly unrelated words through their meanings, not their spelling.

A DAILY WORD JOURNEY
Connect words through their natural relationships and meanings
Watch as each choice unveils new semantic territories
Achieve GENIUS status by completing puzzles in just 3 steps
No pressure—explore language’s natural network at your pace

LANGUAGE BEAUTIFULLY MAPPED
Explore the rich connections between words
Perfect for writers, thinkers, and word lovers
Works offline for inspiration anywhere
Find your own path through millions of possible solutions

Created with care by IDEA GAMES: Michael Douma, Greg Ligierko, and Sean Liu.

DISCOVER THE SEMANTIC WEB OF LANGUAGE
Virtually any two words connect in just a few steps. “In Other Words” makes visible this inherent property of language as an elegant daily puzzle that shows how minds naturally connect ideas.

BEYOND TRADITIONAL WORD GAMES
While most word games focus on spelling or anagrams, “In Other Words” pioneers “idea-linking”—navigating the visible semantic connections that naturally exist between concepts. Move through meanings to harness the bridges already present between seemingly unrelated words.

MILLIONS OF PATHS, FIND YOURS
Each puzzle presents an origin and target word. Connect them through thoughtful selections. With about 50 elegant 3-hop solutions among thousands of possibilities, the game rewards both optimization and exploration. Take up to 7 hops to unlock millions of winning paths through English’s semantic landscape.

SEMANTIC STEPPING STONES
The most satisfying moments come from leveraging perfect “bridge words”—often homographs that connect different semantic domains. Use “spring” to leap from seasons to mechanics, “ground” to connect earth to electricity, or “punch” to bridge impacts to drinks. These pivots reveal language’s natural interconnectedness.

A DAILY MENTAL LEAP
After playing a while, you’ll recognize semantic connections everywhere—the mental skill driving metaphors, analogies, and creative problem-solving. It’s a window into how minds navigate language’s existing structure.

THOUGHTFUL DESIGN, BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE
• Clean interface with animated word clouds
• Physics engine arranges words naturally
• Light and dark modes
• Haptic feedback
• No time pressure
• Hint system when needed

BUILT ON LINGUISTIC SCIENCE
English words form a “small world” network similar to six degrees of separation. The app is built on 100 million cross-links between words, combining human curation with computational linguistics to map English’s inherent semantic web.

THE PERFECT DAILY RITUAL
Start your morning with a fresh mental challenge. Complete puzzles in few steps for “genius” status or explore interesting word relationships. Exercise your brain while navigating surprising connections. A perfect five-minute workout for word lovers, puzzle enthusiasts, writers, and thinkers.

BEYOND THE DAILY PUZZLE
“In Other Words” includes a powerful reference tool functioning as a visual thesaurus. Explore word relationships, discover precise terminology, or overcome “tip-of-the-tongue” moments. Perfect for brainstorming, writing projects, or satisfying language curiosity.

NOT JUST ANOTHER WORD GAME
While inspired by NYT games like Wordle and Connections, “In Other Words” offers something fundamentally different: your thinking style determines your path. No single correct answer—just thousands of valid routes reflecting different approaches to navigating language’s natural network.

WHAT PLAYERS ARE SAYING

“When I used ‘wave’ to link ‘rip’ to ‘oscillate,’ I felt a genuine ‘aha!’ moment that few word games deliver.”

“After several days, I noticed language connections in everyday conversations I’d overlooked before—a subtle but profound shift in perspective.”

“For word game enthusiasts looking beyond anagrams and spelling challenges, it’s worth exploring.”