Heardle is Wordle for music, and it's my favourite spin-off yet

A woman wearing pink headphones smiles as she looks at her phone.
(Image credit: Westend61)

There are so many variations on the Wordle formula at this point they're all starting to blend into one. There's one for maths, one for naughty words, geography—hell, there's even a goddamn Wordle battle royale. I've largely fallen off the Wordle train at this point, but I could not resist the allure of Heardle where, instead of words, you're guessing music a few seconds at a time.

Just like Wordle, you have six guesses to nail the correct song (thanks, TechRadar). Your first couple guesses will only reveal one second of the song, but will gradually give you an extra two, three, four and five seconds. I managed to get today's song nailed in just the first second, which is helped by the fact it only plucks from the most-streamed songs over the last decade.

I'm a bit of a sucker for music-related puzzles and quizzes. If anyone remembers the music quiz game that used to be on iPod Nanos, I would spend an ungodly amount of time before bed each night being quizzed on my own music library. There's something about knowing a song based off nothing but a beat or a small snippet that feels really satisfying, and Heardle definitely scratches that itch. 

If music isn't your kind of thing though, Wordlelike fiend Chris Livingston has drafted up the 10 best Worlde spin-offs you should be adding to your daily rotation.

Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.  

Read more
Games like Wordle, Quordle word puzzle game
Games like Wordle you should add to your daily playlist
A word puzzle shaped like a flower
I only just noticed this, but Merriam-Webster has put together a solid collection of free daily puzzle browser games
Wordle today being played on a phone
Today's Wordle answer for Tuesday, February 18
Wordle today puzzle on a smartphone
Today's Wordle answer for Wednesday, January 15
Today's Wordle being played on a phone
Today's Wordle answer for Friday, December 27
Today's Wordle being played on a phone
Today's Wordle answer for Friday, December 20
Latest in Puzzle
A sign reads "HATRED IS POWER"
A demo for a lost videogame based on George Orwell's 1984 has emerged from the memory hole
London Bridge during snowfall
This is the coolest pricing gimmick I've ever seen: the temperature in London determines the price of this videogame
Wordle answers
Today's Wordle answer for Monday, March 17
Wordle today being played on a phone
Today's Wordle answer for Sunday, March 16
Wordle answers
Today's Wordle answer for Saturday, March 15
Today's Wordle being played on a phone
Today's Wordle answer for Friday, March 14
Latest in News
CS 1.6 remade in CS: Legacy.
A gorgeous ground-up remake of Counter-Strike 1.6 is on its way to Steam, and one of the game's original creators says 'it really gives me old vibes'
Portal P3 pinball table
There's a new Portal game and it costs $12,500
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again
Image for
Rise of the Ronin's PC troubles continue as players report disappearing saves on Steam
Former Treyarch studio co-head and Black Ops 3 director is heading up a new first-party PlayStation studio
Metro Exodus
'I want to raise this glass to our fans, to our community': 4A Games celebrates Metro 2033's 15th anniversary and hints at next Metro game