Daily games like Wordle

You have done Wordle, you have done Connections, and it is still only twenty past eight. SumHunt is the one where the words have to add up.

Same daily rhythm you already like: one puzzle, once a day, a couple of minutes, free, no sign-up. What changes is what you are doing. In SumHunt every letter is worth its place in the alphabet, so A=1, B=2, up to Z=26, and a word is worth its letters added together. You get a rack of eighteen tiles and a target number, and you spell words and chain them with +, − and × until you land on that target exactly.

QUIET is 72, STORM is 85, and together they land on 157 exactly.

The bit that makes it different

Knowing the word is only half of it. In a pure word game the right answer is simply the right answer. Here a word can be perfect and still wrong, because it comes to 61 when you needed 58. You are hunting for a word that fits and a number that lands, and switching between those two ways of thinking is the whole pleasure of it.

Left to right, not BODMAS. Operators apply in the order you place them, so 10 + 5 × 2 is 30 rather than 20. Multiplying late is how you close a big gap in one move, and working that out for yourself is the moment the game clicks.

You are never staring at a blank grid. Every day carries a cryptic-flavoured clue pointing at what the answer words have in common, so there is always a thread to pull.

Stuck is a normal state, not a loss. A wrong guess costs nothing and no timer is running. If you need help, the tip ladder opens up to four hints, and taking one costs you the flawless badge rather than the puzzle.

Every day is themed. The answer words always share a hidden connection. On Sundays the clue points straight at it; the rest of the week it clues each word separately and spotting the link is the reward.

Scoring letters by their alphabet position is not unique to SumHunt — it is a small family with its own history, from Scrabble-style tile values to word-sum puzzles. If that is the part that appeals, letter-value games covers how they differ and which are worth your time.

How it sits alongside the ones you already play

These are all free once-a-day browser puzzles. What separates them is which muscle they use, and SumHunt is the one that asks for both at once.

Common questions

Is there a new puzzle every day, like Wordle?

Yes. One puzzle a day, rolling over at midnight UTC, and every day is themed.

How is SumHunt different from Wordle?

Wordle asks you to identify one hidden five-letter word. SumHunt gives you eighteen letters and a target number, and the word you spell also has to be worth the right amount. It is the only one of these games that asks for vocabulary and arithmetic in the same move.

I already play Connections — is this the same kind of thinking?

Partly, and then it goes further. Connections is about spotting what a group of words has in common. SumHunt hands you that on a plate: the daily clue tells you the idea the answers share. The work is finding which words fitting that idea are also worth the right number.

Is it just Mathler with letters?

No. Mathler and Nerdle are equation games — you are guessing arithmetic, and the symbols mean nothing beyond their value. In SumHunt the numbers come out of real words, so the same tile is both a letter and a quantity. It is the difference between doing sums and hunting one.

Worth it if I usually do the crossword?

If you have twenty minutes, do the crossword. SumHunt is for the other days: two to five minutes, still uses language, and gives you a clean win or a near miss rather than a half-finished grid.

Do I need to be good at maths?

No. It never gets harder than adding two-digit numbers in your head. The difficulty is in finding the right words; the arithmetic is what tells you when you have.

Can I share my result?

Yes. You get a spoiler-free summary of how your week has gone, in the same spirit as a Wordle grid, so you can post it without giving the answer away.