Nodes

Nodes is a quiet daily puzzle built around connecting dots. Each board starts as a scatter of points, and joining the correct pairs draws triangles that fill with color until a hidden low-poly image appears. It picks up the format the New York Times used for Vertex, which the Times retired on 29 August 2024.

What is Nodes?

Nodes belongs to a small family of puzzles sometimes called vertex or triangle puzzles. The format was made popular by Vertex, a game the New York Times ran until it was discontinued on 29 August 2024. Because the Times owned Vertex, that original is no longer playable. Nodes is a separate project that keeps the same idea going: a fresh geometric board each day, solved by connecting points rather than typing letters, which sets it apart from word games like Wordle and Connections.

A round begins as a loose field of dots on a blank canvas. You join dots by connecting one point to another, usually by tapping or dragging, and the correct pairs close into triangles that fill with flat color. As more triangles lock in, a low-poly picture surfaces piece by piece, so the reward is the finished artwork rather than a numeric score. The pace is calm by design. The makers describe it as a puzzle to play alongside a podcast or an audiobook, and completing the image is the win condition. There is no letter grid and no spelling, and the focus stays on finishing the picture rather than beating a score.

The structure follows the daily-puzzle habit that games like Wordle established. One new board is posted each day, and today's puzzle is free to play with no account required. A paid Pro subscription unlocks an archive of past puzzles and extra content for people who want more than one board at a time. Nodes runs in a browser and also has iOS and Android apps, and the same daily board appears on each platform. A free login is optional and only adds stats tracking. The puzzles are hand-crafted by a small team rather than generated automatically, which the site presents as the reason for the subscription option.

A note on naming helps here. Searching for Vertex today turns up the retired Times game plus several clone pages that offer unlimited random boards. Those clones are not true daily puzzles, and their quality varies. Nodes at nodes-game.com is the version that treats the format as a proper once-a-day release with hand-made art, which makes it a reliable place to get the Vertex experience now. Expect a short, low-pressure solve rather than a hard logic test.

How to play Nodes

1. Open the day's board, which shows a spread of dots on a blank canvas.
2. Connect two dots by tapping or dragging from one point to another to draw a line between them.
3. Close correct dots into triangles; each valid triangle fills with a flat color.
4. Keep linking points until every triangle is placed and the full low-poly picture is revealed, which completes the puzzle.
5. Return the next day for a new hand-made image, or open the archive through Pro to replay past ones.

Tips and strategy

• Start from the edges and corners, where each dot usually has fewer possible connections to reason about.
• Watch the colors as triangles fill in; the emerging shapes hint at where the rest of the image is going.
• It is built as a calm activity to do while listening to a podcast, audiobook, or music, so it works well as background play rather than something that demands full focus.
• Treat it as a wind-down puzzle rather than a race, since the goal is finishing the picture.
• If one puzzle a day is not enough, the archive of past boards sits behind the Pro subscription.

Good to know

Reset

A new puzzle each day; the site does not state an exact reset time

Cost

Today's puzzle is free with no account; a Pro subscription unlocks the archive and extras

Platforms

Browser, iOS, and Android

Guesses

No mistake or guess limit is stated; the aim is completing the image

Creator

Made by a small team who hand-craft each puzzle; individual names are not published

Lineage

Continues the format of NYT Vertex, which was discontinued on 29 August 2024

Nodes FAQ

Is Nodes the same as NYT Vertex?

No. Vertex was owned by the New York Times and was discontinued on 29 August 2024. Nodes is a separate indie game that uses the same connect-the-dots triangle-reveal format.

Can I still play a game actually called Vertex?

The New York Times version is gone. Some sites host Vertex clones, but the best-supported daily version now runs under the name Nodes at nodes-game.com.

Does Nodes cost money?

Today's daily puzzle is free and needs no account. A Pro subscription adds an archive of past puzzles and extra content.

How often do new puzzles appear?

One new hand-made puzzle is posted each day.

Can I play past puzzles?

Yes, through the archive, which is part of the Pro subscription.