You probably already have Wordle heard. Or did you live under a rock like me and didn’t get the hype surrounding this simple play on words? Then now is the right moment to find out what Wordle is all about and why you should definitely try it.
- Wordle is a popular word game that has players worldwide guessing words.
- It’s free, ad-free and available through a browser.
- The New York Times recently bought the game.
If you really haven’t heard of Wordle heard, I’ll explain the game to you briefly. Wordle is a free word puzzle game played in browser. There is a five letter word to guess and there is only one word per day. All you need to play is a device on which you can call up a browser – and at best a large English vocabulary.
The game was originally released in October 2021 by software engineer Josh Wardle (Wardle, Wordle, you know?) to entertain himself and his partner who loves word games. Just a few months after he unveiled the game to the public, it exploded. Millions of players play it every day and share their solutions online.
The game was recently purchased by The New York Times for an “undisclosed price in the low seven figures”. The NYT has added it to its own collection of word games, available for subscribers to use. Thankfully, the publisher has stated that Wordle will remain free for now and “no gameplay changes will be made”.
Why should you play Wordle?
This is what a finished game would look like. We covered the letters to avoid giving away the word of the day. / © NextPit
What makes this game so popular is its simplicity. There are no ads and nothing to distract you. It’s a trivial, yet challenging task that you can use to distract yourself without committing to anything. Okay, except it becomes a habit to come back every day to find a new word.
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To win the game you have to find the right word in less than six tries. It reminded me a lot of the classic board game Mastermind*, but with a hangman component: if a letter is in the right place, it turns green. If a letter appears in the word but is in the wrong place, it turns yellow.
You might not crack the word on the first try, but that’s okay. It’s not a race and nothing forces you to keep going. But there’s something very appealing about the urge to crack the code, or just train your memory for five-letter words. And when you’ve finally managed to solve your first puzzle, that’s a nice, satisfying feeling.
Wordle sure has a little social appeal, too. Because if you have successfully solved the task, you can share the results with friends on social media without revealing the actual solution. And since somehow everyone plays along, you can exchange ideas about the word of the day. The game is just fun, especially because of its simplicity. In our overstimulated world, this is a pleasant change.
Does Wordle respect your privacy?
The game contains no ads, you don’t need an account and it’s free. Nevertheless, the data protection regulations indicate that some usage statistics are generated, mainly with Google Analytics. But inventor Josh Wardle said in an interview that he “deliberately doesn’t do anything with your data.”
Tell me: Have you tried Wordle and maybe even learned new words? Or do you prefer classic crosswords? Tell us in the comments!