Boggle, Wordle and Upwords: which word game suits you?

Boggle: the hunt

A grid of letters, and as many words as you can trace through touching squares. There is no opponent and no wrong answer, only words you did and did not spot.

It suits a short sitting. You can find six words in ninety seconds and feel like you achieved something, or stay for twenty minutes and clear most of the board.

Wordle: the deduction

One word, six guesses, and colour feedback that narrows the field. It is a logic puzzle wearing a word game costume, and the whole thing is over in four minutes.

It suits people who like being told they were close. Boggle never tells you anything.

Upwords: the argument

A board game against an opponent, where you lay words out and, crucially, stack letters on top of words already played. Turning CAT into COT with one tile is the whole appeal, and a word's score is the height of its stacks rather than the rarity of its letters.

It suits anyone who likes Scrabble but is bored of hoarding a Q.

Pick by the time you have

• Two minutes: Wordle.
• Ten minutes and no thinking left: Boggle.
• Half an hour and someone to beat: Upwords.
• A word game every day that the whole internet is playing at once: Wordle again, though Boggle gives everyone the same board too.