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We hope you love our recommendations! Some may have been sent as samples, but all were independently selected by our editors. Just FYI, BuzzFeed and its publishing partners may collect a share of sales and/or other compensation from the links on this page.
For anyone who's constantly chasing the high that correctly guessing that elusive five-letter word gives you.
The code maker will use little pegs on the side to let you know how many of your colors are correct and in the right place, correct but in the wrong place, or not in the sequence at all (sound familiar?!) But wait, there's a catch — the code maker won't tell you which color is in the right place. You have to use strategic thinking, elimination, and sometimes some luck to get it right!
Promising review: "I remembered playing this game with my grandma growing up and was thrilled to see it on Amazon recently! Great quality, with a handy storage drawer to keep all the pieces together. Colors are bright primary colors. Game rules of play are easy enough to understand that my 5-year-old can play with some supervision yet challenging enough for even the oldest of us to be stumped by the code maker. This game will be coming along with us on many camping trips and vacations! Highly recommended! We're happy to see classic games still being made to get our kids off their devices and away from the screen." —B. Hathcock
Get it from Amazon for $12.99.
Typesetter Co. is an Etsy shop selling customizable, baseball caps with a focus on minimalist design.
Get it from Typesetter Co. on Etsy for $23.95 (available in eight colors).
It's definitely compact enough to fit in a tote bag or small backpack, so whenever the urge to make words out of seven letters hits, you can just whip this one out.
Promising review: "We bought this just prior to going on vacation, and glad we did. It is extremely nice, letters are a nice size, are clear to read, and no issues seeing them (for old senior eyes LOL). I suggest if you wanna have some fun time, at the end of a sun full day, kick back, sit on the patio with your favorite beverage, and have a game. The game can be played with the 7 tile (standard game) or the 9 tile express game version) I only experienced one issue, and that is, it always appears that the person keeping score wins!" —Den
Get it from Amazon for $39.95.
I got this for my fiancé (a Scrabble and Wordle obsessive) for Christmas and we've played it almost every night since. From the second you open the packaging, it just feels expensive. In addition to the deluxe features mentioned above, it also has a raised grid to keep tiles in place and a hidden storage area underneath. The wood looks so nice that you could leave this out all the time and it wouldn't stick out or look out of place — I would even consider it a piece of decor. And let me reiterate, this is not your average, flimsy board with plastic tiles — the fact that the board rotates is truly a gamechanger for me. Yes, I know deluxe versions of Scrabble have rotated before, but just let me revel in the joy of it!
Get it from L.L. Bean for $139.
Parents especially love this game for how educational it can be for their kiddos!
Promising review: "Play On Words really commands your attention. Creating new words or versions of words by adding, shifting or re-ordering the letters takes full concentration. Laying down your own words, or building on your competitors, you are continuously watching the play to see where you can build the biggest words on the table. Great fun. And highly competitive!" —Mike D.
Get it from Amazon for $14.49.
If you can't create five words with the 20 tiles provided, you can switch out a tile for another one in the unused pile. The first player to make those five words wins!
Promising review: "We have so much fun with this game. I'm a word game fanatic so people didn't like playing with me BUT they too have mastered the speed I have & love it now as much as I do. My 7-year-old niece played with us and my 76-year-old Mom too. It definitely revs up your brain." —D Ware
Get it from Amazon for $29.95.
As the reviewer below details, you can change up the rules to this game and still have loads of fun:
Promising review: "I played this game with a group ages 7 to 40. We all had fun. We ignored the rule about the first person to come up with a word getting the points and just gave everyone points for their words. Winner has the most points at the end of 5 rounds. We all had fun trying to help each other come up with the highest point word with your cards. It was great learning for the youngest two kids (8 and 7) and even fun for the older players." —Amazon Customer
Get it from Amazon for $13.99.
Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.