Frequently Asked Questions

• How to play (the rules)?

  Guess the NERDLE in 6 tries. After each guess, the color of the tiles will change to show how close your guess was to today's solution.

  • There are 8 characters
  • A character is one of "0123456789+-*/=" (normally! We've added some extra maths symbols in games like maxi.nerdle but you'll see these on the keyboard)
  • A valid guess must be a calculation that is mathematically correct.
  • So it must have one "="
  • Also, the number on the right of the "=" is just a number (not another calculation)
  • Standard order of operations applies, so calculate * and / before + and -
  • Commutative answers are accepted. i.e. if today's answer is 10+20=30, then 20+10=30 will also be accepted. However the commutativity rule only applies when everything else matches today's target solution.

  9 * 2 0 = 1 8 0

  The number 9 is green and is therefore in the solution and in the correct spot.

  9 * 2 0 = 1 8 0

  The number 2 is purple and is therefore in the solution but in the wrong spot.

  9 * 2 0 = 1 8 0

  The number 1 is black and is therefore not in the solution in any spot (at least, not in this example – see rules for doubles)

  If your guess includes, say, two 1s but the answer has only one, you will get one color tile and one black.

  Watch our how to play video:

  @nerdlegame play now at nerdlegame.com #nerdle #nerdlegame #maths #math #teacher #teachersoftiktok #games ♬ original sound - nerdlegame

• How to play (starting the game)?

  Visit nerdlegame.com . Enter your guess with the on-screen keyboard or, on a laptop/tablet, a connected keyboard.

• When does the game reset

  There is one game of Nerdle per day. The reset time is set to midnight GMT(i.e. UK time) so that everyone plays the same game at the same time. The reset time in each time zone is therefore:

  • 4pm PST
  • 7pm EST
  • Midnight GMT
  • 1am CET
  • 9am JST
  • 11am AET
• Are there different game types?

  As well as the original (or ‘classic’) nerdle game, we also have variants called ‘mini’, ‘speed’, ‘instant’ and ‘pro’.

  Mini nerdle has 6 digits instead of 8. Smaller but still quite a challenge!

  In speed nerdle, you’re against the clock. You are given a starting guess and there are time penalties. You need to think fast but not panic!

  In instant nerdle, you only have 1 guess but you're given all of the digits and there’s only one possible answer. Sounds simple, but this one is pretty tough!

  Pro nerdle allows you to create your own nerdle challenge for someone else to play. There are even some extra maths symbols you can use. So you can make your pro nerdle as easy or as difficult as you like!

  Watch a video introducing all our games here:

  @nerdlegame Give them a try at nerdlegame.com#nerdle #nerdlegame #speednerdle #mininerdle #nerdlepro #instantnerdle #maths #math #games #teacher ♬ original sound - nerdlegame

• Can I play more than one game

  There is only one new game a day, which resets at midnight GMT.

  However, each version (classic and mini) both have their own daily challenge.

  You can also play games from earlier days – see the FAQ for Nerdle replay below.

• Can I play the game from a previous day?

  You can play games from previous days by adding a date to the end of the web page that you visit. For example, for the 31 January 2022 game, you can go to: nerdlegame.com/20220131

  If you enter an invalid date (a future date or a date before that version of the game was launched) you’ll end up at today’s game.

  The game will default to classic or mini depending on which you played last. Or if you prefer, you can choose using a url such as classic or mini

• Why does it say 'that guess doesn't compute'?

  If you enter a calculation that doesn’t work mathematically, you will see the message "That guess doesn’t compute". This means that the calculation on the left hand side does not equal the number on the right (e.g. 10+10=21). Or that we don't recognise it as a calculation at all (eg 10**1==1).

  If you think your calculation is correct but you are still getting the doesn't compute message, please double check your maths. Also note that '*' and '/' take precedence. 1+1*2=3 is correct because you multiply 1*2 first such that the calculation is effectively 1+2=3. You could think of this as the same as 1+ (1*2). See "what is order of operation" for an explanation of why we do this

• What is order of operation?

  Nerdle applies the maths principle called 'order of operation' which means that some mathematical symbols (called 'operators') take precedence over others.

  Puzzles may have operators in any order but order of operation means that you have to calculate '*' and '/' before '+' and '-'

  So 1+1*2 is the same as 1+(1*2) = 1+2 = 3 and not the same as (1+1)*2 = 2*2 = 4. This might be a bit unfamiliar (especially if those maths lessons seem a long time ago!) but you'll get the hang of it quickly, we promise

  @nerdlegame Order of operations can be a bit tricky - here’s how they’re relevant to nerdle! #nerdle #nerdlegame #math #maths ♬ original sound - nerdlegame

• How do doubles work?

  The answer to a Nerdle may contain the same character more than once. Your guess, whether right or wrong may also contain the same character more than once. The color coding Nerdle uses for repeat characters is as follows:

  • Any character(s) in the correct position are scored first and will show green
  • If there is an additional example of this character in both the guess and the answer (but not in the right place), this will show purple
  • If there are more of the same character in the question than the answer, the extras will show grey.
• How do I share my result?

  When you solve the Nerdle puzzle, a win screen will pop up. Click the share button to share your success with your friends.

  If you are playing on mobile or tablet, you can share straight to apps such as WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook.

  If you are playing on a desktop, the share button saves your result in your clipboard. You should be able to paste into any other application that you want to share on.

  Some older mobile operating systems and a few laptops don’t support the sharing function. In that case, your best bet is to just share some text like "Nerdle – solved in 3 today". Or you can take a screen shot. But please crop out the actual answer to avoid a spoiler!

• Why can't you spell 'math'?

  "Math" as an abbreviation for mathematics is mainly used in American English. British English uses "maths". As the idea for Nerdle was born in London, England, we've stuck with the latter. However, because we like to all be friends, we've gone with American English for "color" instead of "colour". Hopefully that’s fair!

• What about zeros?

  Nerdle answers don't use leading zeros or lone zeros, even though some may be accepted as valid guesses. So you won’t find an answer like this: 0+5+5=10, or like this: 01+2+1=4. However, 0 is allowed as the answer to the right of the equal sign (i.e. 5-3-2=0 is allowed).

• What about negative numbers?

  Nerdle answers don't start with negative numbers or have a negative number after the equals sign, even though these may be accepted as valid guesses. So you won't find an answer like this: -5-6=-11.

• Number ordering and 'commutativity'

  We get it. 1+2 and 2+1 are effectively the same in maths because of a principle called "commutativity". In the same way, 3*4 = 4*3.

  In Nerdle, the "correct" answer will have one specified order and that's how we decide which of your guesses turn green, purple or black.

  However, for the maths purists who would like 1+2 and 2+1 to be as correct as each other, we accept either. We then rearrange your guess to our "correct" answer if required, so you know what we were looking for.

  To be accepted as commutative, your guess must still have all the same numbers and the same answer as the one we’re looking for.

  Nerdle will not 'move' tiles or change their colour to green unless the whole row is commutatively equivalent to the solution. In this case the guess will win the puzzle and the tiles will be moved to fit the solution.

  You can turn "allow commutative answers" on/off in the settings menu.

  @nerdlegame What are commutative answers?Give it a try at nerdlegame.com#nerdle #nerdlegame #speednerdle #mininerdle #nerdlepro #instantnerdle #maths #math #games #teacher #teachersoftiktok ♬ original sound - nerdlegame

• Donations and ads

  You may see both a donation button and advertising on our site. We have tried to do this whilst maintaining a great playing experience and supporting our 'positive numbers' mission. If you feel that we haven't got this right or you see ads that you do not consider appropriate, please let us know.

• Why Nerdle?

  Driving home with Imogen, we were chatting about the Wordle craze and agreed there must be an equivalent for us maths fans. A few minutes later, we’d decided on the rules of the game and the name “nerdle”. As far as we can work out, there are over 100,000 valid solutions but we have chosen 17,723 of these as there are quite a lot we thought you wouldn't like. We think it’s just as fun playing with numbers as playing with letters. See if you agree!

  Envisaged by Richard and Imogen Mann.
  Put together by Marcus.
  Optimisations & support from Gavin.
  Solutions by Alex. Inspired by Wordle and a love of math.