The Game that is Out of This “Wordle”

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The New York Times

Wordle is a popular word-guessing game that challenges players to correctly guess a five-letter word within just six attempts.

In the last couple of months, clusters of green and yellow squares have begun to adorn Instagram stories like colorful decorations. The stories are related to a simple game, Wordle, which has astronomically risen in popularity since it was acquired by the New York Times, with thousands of people across the world proudly sharing their answers on social media. 

Wordle is a web-based word game created by Josh Wardle, and like all newspaper puzzles, its simplicity defines its elegance. Players are given six attempts to guess a five-letter word, with each guess allowing the player to close in on the target word and make better guesses. Following each attempt, the game provides clues through green squares, which indicate correctly placed letters, and yellow squares, which indicate present, but incorrectly placed letters. The game, however, doesn’t provide hints on letters that occur more than once, such as the “e” in “rupee,” stumping many users at times. 

Unlike most online games, Wordle doesn’t remind players to play through bombarding them with notifications. This raises the question: What makes Wordle so popular? Part of the reason behind the game’s growing demand is the fact that users are able to share how they played without giving away the answer to the daily word, allowing people across multiple time zones to indulge in the game. Moreover, Wordle encourages players to use their critical thinking skills to guess the word in the least number of attempts, allowing players to feel like they are learning while playing. 

“I love to experiment with new strategies when I play Wordle. I generally try to pick words that have the most commonly used consonants and multiple vowels for my first guess,” said Suhani Sukhla (11), an avid Wordle player. 

Sharing tips on how to find the target word in the least number of attempts helps build social connection amongst players as well. Many different youtubers and website content creators have already shared their tips online with thousands of Wordle enthusiasts. The game’s ability to connect its players together is also starting to show at Irvington. 

“I definitely think the game is bringing the Irvington community together. Whenever I pass by someone during flex or lunch, I almost always see them playing Wordle and that encourages more people to play,” said Ameyaa Wagh (11), who was recently introduced to the game.

Game designers are now releasing their own Wordle spin-offs, from Nerdle, a number guessing game, to Worldle, a geography guessing game. Given its growing demand and charming simplicity, Wordle will likely continue to flourish, bringing various communities, like Irvington, together.