SALT LAKE CITY — If you’re looking for information about the word game, Wordle, you’re in the right place. And just about any place would be the right place because everybody. is. talking. about. it.
One reason for all the chatter, and probably the main reason that it’s easy to love, is that the concept is simple. The player has six chances to guess the correct five-letter word.
The program will tell you which letters you’ve guessed correctly and whether the letters you’ve guessed are in the correct order. For example, there may indeed be a “g” in the word, but maybe it’s at the beginning or in the middle of the word instead of the end.
The game was created by a software engineer in Brooklyn, New York named Josh Wardle, who made it for his partner during the pandemic. He told the New York Times he wanted to make a game that she’d enjoy.
Then, he watched it explode among his family members and decided to release it to the rest of us.
Because Wardle is apparently a kind man (see paragraph above), who doesn’t want to make money and doesn’t want us to spend money on his labor of love, his game is free. (Aw)
You play it on a website, and only on a website. Other than icons for how to play, stats, and settings, there’s nothing, absolutely nothing else on the website.
No blinking ads that may or may not (probably not) factually represent another game for you to download. Absent are the in-app purchases. No pressure. In other words, easy to love.
You’ve likely read that the game’s popularity was beneficial for a developer who created an app called Wordle! way back in 2017. True. Steven Cravotta noticed one day that his app was getting a lot more hits and downloads.
He told Rolling Stone that when he learned the other app’s developer offered his product for free, he decided to donate whatever money he’d earned (from people mistakenly downloading his game) and donate the money to charity. (Again, aw.)
Name another game, other than Wordle, that only wants you to spend a little bit of time with it. It’s like someone that knows themselves very well and wants to spend time with you, but not enough time so as to get on each other’s nerves.
That’s Wordle. It’s bite-sized. It’s fun-sized!
How do they do this? There’s only one word a day to guess. Once you’ve cracked it, you’re done. Sure, try it on another browser. The same day, the same word. So you’re only cheating yourself if you play again.
And who wants to do that?
Like a bottle of Coke from your grandfather’s era, it’s a lovely way to bring people together. Because we’re all guessing the same word.
Talk about a great equalizer.
Don’t let anybody fool you, this is your own little version of Jeopardy! And once you realize that, then all the tips and tricks you’ve heard about winning that game come flooding back.
The most-used consonants. The most-used vowels.
A little five-letter word. It’s doable. And you can do it. You can be part of a fad, and can share your answers on your social media.
So what are you waiting for?