Zanagrams
Ranked 3 of 17 word games by recommenders
Commenters call it a fun, minimal daily word puzzle where the puzzle gets easier as you solve it. The most common caveat is that the rules and bonus words are not always obvious.
Commenters call it a fun, minimal daily word puzzle where the puzzle gets easier as you solve it. The most common caveat is that the rules and bonus words are not always obvious.
56 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 51
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 91%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 51 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 10 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun, engaging, satisfying word puzzle
“this is the most engaging, fun, and satisfying word puzzle game I've maybe ever played”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “Super fun, i found a tons of words and the last 3 ones were really hard to find”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “I could play games like this for hours :D”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” - Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams”
- Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams”
Minimal design and clean UI
“loved the minimal UI, good copywriting, and tasteful animations”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “Love the design and would love a french version”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” Puzzle gets easier as you solve
“I really like how it removes any possible letters or connections.”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “Love how the connections disappear once the letter is used up”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “I like how the puzzle naturally gets easier as you solve it”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” Definitions help you learn words
“Very cool! Idea: show the definition of the word when you find it, so you can learn new words.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “Simple and fun, appreciate the definitions!”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “it adds a free learning aspect to it”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Rules and instructions unclear
“It's a reasonable rule; it just wasn't obvious from reading the info in "how to play"”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “The name of the game is confusing, I thought I had to find anagrams and didn't understand how to rearrange the letters”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “The instructions are unclear for my input device.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” Bonus words too obscure or obvious
“I love it! But the bonus word (a word most player would miss) on 29/7 was not very subtle.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “I found #6 unnecessarily difficult.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” Getting stuck feels frustrating
“I feel this becomes an exercise in attrition instead of a game.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams” “Being stuck is annoying, though.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Zanagrams”
Other word games people recommend
The four most recommended other word games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiled Words | 106 | 2 | 98% | 9 | — | Approved |
| 18 Words | 87 | 28 | 76% | 1 | — | — |
| ZanagramsThis page | 51 | 5 | 91% | 2 | — | — |
| Wordle | 28 | 21 | 57% | 10 | — | — |
| One More Letter | 19 | 10 | 66% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
39 of the 57 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I've been playing Zanagrams every day, love it”
“Zanagrams is really fun too!”
“it counts up like a stopwatch, then compares your time to the global average at the end”
“Guess I've been playing too much”
“the ability to hide the clock really improved my enjoyment of that game.”
“Love the design and would love a french version”
“I found #6 unnecessarily difficult.”
“Being stuck is annoying, though.”
“Very cool! Idea: show the definition of the word when you find it, so you can learn new words.”
“I could play games like this for hours :D”
“I'm devouring these, though—every day you release one, I'll play it!”
“I feel this becomes an exercise in attrition instead of a game.”
“The instructions are unclear for my input device.”
“Not sure this is good puzzle design to be honest”
“It's a very fun game, well done!”
“this is the most engaging, fun, and satisfying word puzzle game I've maybe ever played”
“The name of the game is confusing, I thought I had to find anagrams and didn't understand how to rearrange the letters”
“I love it! But the bonus word (a word most player would miss) on 29/7 was not very subtle.”
“Loved this, cleared all the puzzles available in one go.”
“loved the minimal UI, good copywriting, and tasteful animations”
“Fun. I could see myself playing this while on the train, etc.”
“this was highly entertaining!”
“I like how unlike the nyt games one, you can get additional information from the edges' existence.”
“only annoyance was the quite a few singular+plural forms in the same puzzle”
“Fun game! On iOS I frequently triggered a double-tap zoom accidentally”
“Fun game, managed in just over 3 min.”
“It's a reasonable rule; it just wasn't obvious from reading the info in "how to play"”
“Very nice! I solved them all in the backyard on a pleasant Sunday afternoon.”
“I really like how it removes any possible letters or connections.”
“The only thing I would add would be to keep track of the words already found.”
“Love this! Added to bookmarks.”
“Super fun, i found a tons of words and the last 3 ones were really hard to find”
“I found that every word should count.”
“Simple and fun, appreciate the definitions!”
“Love how the connections disappear once the letter is used up”
“it adds a free learning aspect to it”
“Pretty fun, took me about 10 minutes but found 24 words 10 of them bonus.”
“I like that it also handles words that aren't planned in”
“I like how the puzzle naturally gets easier as you solve it”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.