In Other Words
Every word leads somewhere.
A daily puzzle where players connect unlikely word pairs through paths of related concepts. Unlike spelling-based word games, this is the first daily puzzle to transform language’s inherent network of relationships into an interactive experience with countless valid solutions. Each puzzle has a specific origin and target, but the path you take is entirely your own.
New Genre
Idea-Linking Puzzles
100,000+
Valid Solutions
Per Puzzle
100M+
Semantic Connections
$295k
NSF Seed
Venture Funding
Key Facts
| Publisher: | IDEA Games |
| Release Date: | April 2025 |
| Platform: | iPhone only |
| Genre: | Word Puzzle / Idea-Linking |
| Pricing: | Monthly subscription, free 1-week trial |
| Core Loop: | Navigate from word to word through clouds of related concepts, choosing your own path through language's connected territory |
| Goal: | Connect origin to target word (3-hop "Genius" solutions available among thousands of valid paths) |
Gameplay Trailer
Game Concept
In Other Words makes visible the inherent network within vocabulary. Any two words can be linked through surprisingly few steps — a natural property that becomes navigable during gameplay. The connections aren't invented—they're revealed, allowing players to discover the inherent organization that has always existed beneath our everyday communication.
Achieve “Genius” status with elegant 3-hop solutions or find your own word path. Each daily puzzle offers approximately 27 perfect 3-hop solutions among millions of longer valid paths. Every choice reveals new stepping stones that showcase the rich semantic network connecting all of English.
Game Mechanics: Physical World Parallels
The semantic navigation in "In Other Words" has real-world parallels in orienteering and golf.
Like Orienteering...
networks
Like Golf...
With every move, the player either shifts meaning, or teleports through a homograph. Most steps involve a related word: a different shade of meaning (angry → flustered), or a closely related idea (horse → saddle). But English also has thousands of pivots: leveraging homographs enables strategic leaps to entirely new semantic spaces (spring → season OR bouncy OR water). Learn more about these semantic mechanics in gaming.
In Other Words doesn’t ask you to discover hidden connections — it invites you to navigate relationships that have always existed in language. We’ve made the natural semantic network playable, giving you freedom within carefully crafted puzzles that have specific origins and destinations.
Navigating Word Meanings
In Other Words reveals what linguists have long understood but rarely made tangible: language naturally forms an interconnected network where concepts link through surprisingly few steps. The game transforms this abstract property into a navigable experience. Cunning play sometimes leverages homographs (like “park”) as pivots between conceptual territories.
Metacognitive Bliss
Players experience unique satisfaction as they consciously navigate what's usually subconscious. Like tracing the invisible currents that have always connected words beneath the surface of everyday language, the game creates mindful awareness of connections we typically process without thinking—turning invisible mental pathways into clear choices.
True Open-World Freedom
Word puzzles are breaking free from rigid constraints. While traditional puzzles restrict players to single correct answers, In Other Words offers genuine conceptual freedom. Players chart unique routes through semantic space using personal vocabulary and intuition, with each solution reflecting their individual relationship with language.
"The game feels both novel and familiar—players are engaging with a fundamental property of language they've always used intuitively but rarely examined explicitly. It's providing a lens to perceive and navigate the natural semantic architecture that normally operates below our conscious awareness."
Unlike Any Other Word Game
NYT's Wordle focuses on spelling and NYT Connections on categorization, while In Other Words centers on word meanings and pathfinding between linked concepts. Unlike these popular daily challenge games, our design embraces multiple winning paths, giving players the freedom to discover their own routes through the semantic landscape.
"The mathematical complexity creates freedom rather than difficulty. While other word games test if you can guess the one right answer, we celebrate your unique path through the idea networks."
The Atlas of Connected Meaning
Beyond the daily puzzle, In Other Words includes a powerful visual thesaurus with over 1.5 million words and their interconnections. While the core is a daily word game, this reference tool supercharges writing, brainstorming, and exploration of semantic relationships—completely free, even for non-subscribers.
Media Quotes
Screenshots
Each puzzle balances structure with freedom. You’re presented with 17 carefully selected words at each step, with clear start and target words. While the journey has constraints, the wide array of valid solutions ensures that your personal vocabulary, intuition, and creativity determine your path.
Players choose their next word from a floating cloud of conceptually related terms
The game presents a challenge - players must reach their target in seven hops or fewer
Perfect solutions earn the coveted "Golden Crown" - the ultimate achievement for word mavens
Technology Behind the Game
In Other Words is powered by the Linguabase, a sophisticated semantic network created through a hybrid approach that balances human curation with AI-augmented pattern recognition — neither could achieve this level of comprehensiveness alone
Building a semantic network of this scale would have cost millions and taken decades with traditional methods - making games like this economically impossible until now. This is why word games have historically focused on spelling rather than meaning.
The Semantic Network
- 1.5 million interconnected words
- 100 million semantic relationships
- Hybrid creation combining human curation with AI-augmented expansion
- Special attention to homographs that bridge conceptual domains
Development Journey
The concept evolved from what was originally conceived as a reference tool—a visual thesaurus project. When advances in AI threatened this business model, the team pivoted during their NSF entrepreneurial bootcamp in 2024, transforming their semantic database into an innovative puzzle format.
Technical Implementation
- iOS frontend with Metal graphics and custom shaders
- Physics engine for natural word cloud layout
- Ray-tracing inspired algorithm for efficient path sampling
- Optimized for smooth 60fps performance on mobile devices
Team
About IDEA Games
IDEA Games is an innovative studio dedicated to creating digital experiences that enhance human connection through language and technology. With a foundation in neuroscience and linguistics, our small team combines deep technical expertise with a passion for making language exploration accessible and engaging. Founded in 2015 as an offshoot of our nonprofit studio IDEA.org, we're committed to advancing literacy and understanding through thoughtfully designed applications and games.
Michael Douma
Co-Founder & Creative Director
Michael conceptualized “In Other Words” by recognizing language's inherent connectedness. With a background in neuroscience and visualization design, he developed the core gameplay concept that transforms semantic networks into daily puzzles. His previous work includes SpicyNodes, a visualization platform that attracted over 40 million users. 🔗
Grzegorz Ligierko
Co-Founder & Technical Director
Grzegorz architected the technical backbone of "In Other Words," creating the physics-based word cloud system and the ray-tracing inspired algorithm that efficiently samples potential paths. His expertise in Metal shaders and iOS optimization ensures the game delivers a smooth, responsive experience despite its complex semantic underpinnings. 🔗
Li Mei
Language Data Architect
Li developed the sophisticated data structures behind the game's semantic network. With a mathematics foundation from Shandong University and decades of software engineering experience, she designed the algorithms that map and weight the relationships between words, enabling the discovery of elegant three-hop solutions amid millions of possible paths.
Orin Hargraves
Consulting Lexicographer
Orin brings decades of lexicographic expertise to "In Other Words," having contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of English and New Oxford American Dictionary. His work ensures the game's word relationships reflect authentic language use, with special attention to the homographs that create strategic pivots between conceptual domains. 🔗
Key Perspectives
Beyond Spelling
- Why today's popular word games remain trapped in either spelling or limited categories
- A contemplative alternative where meaning-based navigation creates a fundamentally different experience
- Creating semantic "aha!" moments that feel more akin to poetry than traditional puzzles
Open-World Word Gaming
- With 17 words per cloud and 3 steps: 17³ = 4,913 possible paths, yet only ~27 perfect solutions
- Extending to 7 hops creates 410,338,673 possible paths—millions of which are valid solutions
- This exponential growth creates an open-world experience where word mavens, non-native speakers, and younger players all find their own level of challenge
The Double Pivot
- When LLMs devalued their hand-crafted database, they used millions of LLM queries to expand it
- Converting endless semantic rabbit holes into structured challenges with clear destinations
- Building a semantic network that would have cost millions and taken decades using traditional methods—economically impossible until recent technology advances
Language's Natural Architecture
- Making visible the topological structure of vocabulary that we all use intuitively but rarely see mapped
- How homographs function as conceptual wormholes, instantly linking distant semantic territories
- The untapped potential for a new generation of games built on meaning rather than spelling
Press Assets
- App icon in high resolution (PNG, 1024 × 1024px)
- Mouse mascot character in three variations: Crowned, Happy, and Relaxed
- Dark mode screenshots showing key gameplay moments:
- Word cloud exploration
- Game over screen
- "Golden Crown" achievement screen
Try the Game
Media Contact
For interview requests, additional information, or media inquiries:
Email: media2025@inotherwords.app