Wordle: Everything You Need To Know by Anna Radulski
An online game has recently taken the internet by storm. Hooking in users with its gray, yellow, and green squares, Wordle has risen immensely in popularity. The game has three simple rules to find a five-letter word: if a letter is gray, then it is not in the word; if a letter is yellow, then it is in the word but in the wrong spot; and if a letter is green, then it is in the word and in the correct spot. Players have six guesses to solve for the correct answer. I have only been playing the game for a few days, but I am already addicted! Only having one word to guess every day makes the puzzle anticipating and something to look forward to, and it is also fun to race or collaborate with others to find the right answer. Senior Jordan Lavey similarly enjoys the internet trend. “I like it because my friends and family get really competitive,” says Lavey, and she also believes that it has increased her vocabulary, claiming, “It helps me remember that certain words exist”.
Lavey is not alone, for thousands of people, including the New York Times, are getting in on the action. Wordle was created by software engineer Josh Wardle, who originally created it for his partner. It was released to the public in October and exploded in popularity, going from only 9 users on November 1st to nearly 300’000 two months later. Wardle has recently sold the viral game to the New York Times “in the low seven figures”, feeling more relief than joy, for it cost him $100 a month to keep the site online. However, Wardle didn’t seem to mind, telling the TIME, “The goal was to make a game that my partner would enjoy playing. What’s interesting is, people would ask me all the time about the monetization of stuff. Like, ‘You could put ads on it, You could do premium’ And I don’t know, maybe I’m an idiot. None of that really appeals for me”. While Wardle remains consistent on his intentions to not profit off the game, only the future knows what direction the Times will take Wordle.
For those who want to try something different, there are numerous alternative games for Wordle. For example, Hello Wordle is the same game, but with a range of 4 to 11 letters. There is also Word Guesser that has 3-7 letter words, and you can also share results with friends! Absurdle is also an alternative, but more or less resembles an anti-Wordle that constantly changes its solutions as you play. Even more so – you can play as many times as you want! The possibilities are endless.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/crosswords/everyone-wants-to-be-wordle.html.
https://time.com/6143715/wordle-sale-josh-wardle-interview/