Every day, without fail, I play all eight New York Times and all six LinkedIn games. They have become my daily ritual as a brain workout, a competition with friends and an in-class distraction. I’ve played them so religiously that my laptop now opens the sites on command with just one letter typed in the search bar. At this point, I believe I’ve earned some authority on the topic, and it’s time to settle once and for all which online games site is the best?
Let’s start with the veteran, The New York Times games. Wordle, the Mini Crossword and Connections are all online game staples. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wordle served to bring people together through friendly competition. My friends and I would wait in anticipation for the 24-hour countdown to end so we could beat each other to the next day’s word.
Then there’s the newcomer: LinkedIn Games. Released in May of 2024, the LinkedIn games came out almost 10 years after The NYT’s. When my classmates catch me playing during school, I often get asked what site I’m on. LinkedIn games have six quick, strategic-based puzzles to play that make you feel productive even when you’re procrastinating.
To compare the two fairly, I came up with three main criteria: difficulty, game variety and overall fun. These three elements capture what really makes a game worth coming back to. If it’s not fun, fresh and a little challenging, why play? Both The New York Times and LinkedIn offer enjoyable puzzles, but each one has its own provision that dominates.
The New York Times games easily score higher in the challenge criterion. Even if you play these games daily and think that you canrecognize the patterns, each one manages to surprise you every time you play. Connections, where you have to put 16 words into four separate categories, constantly shifts its logic and often tricks its players into wrong guesses. Your success in Spelling Bee really depends on your ability to brainstorm long, obscure words that earn more points, rather than your general vocabulary. And finally Pips, NYT’s most recent addition, is challenging because players have to combine dominoes to match target values,
testing both a player’s math and logic skills.
The next criterion, game variety, also goes to The New York Times. The site has a total of nine games to play, from crossword puzzles to word association games to sudoku. By contrast, the LinkedIn games such as Mini Sudoku, Zip and Cross Climb pretty much play the same way, so you’re not getting any element of surprise from them. If you’re looking for a broader menu of games on a singular app, I would definitely recommend The Times games for you.
For the last criterion and arguably the most important, the most fun games go to LinkedIn. Their games take a different approach than The Times, and it works. The LinkedIn puzzles are much quicker and are perfectly structured for a mental break between classes. You breeze through the six available puzzles, which leaves you wanting to play them all over again. The games are so compelling that I’ll admit that when I’m finished playing, I’ll go play the “Unlimited” versions, bootleg copies that people post online. Also, they don’t rely on complicated instructions to play. You can jump into any game and understand it instantly! So if you ever need a fun, relaxing break from everything, the LinkedIn games are for you.
Even though LinkedIn may be the most fun, The New York Times definitely has the best games. They’ve been around for longer, and they’re more played. However, LinkedIn is a close second. The websites make the perfect pair, and playing them will guarantee that you become, like me, addicted to these games.
