The World's Obsession with Wordle by Lacey Sheaffer

If you’ve been on the internet at all in the past few weeks, chances are that you’ve seen posts with collections of white, green, and yellow emojis. These squares belong to a game that has been taking over the world lately: Wordle. 

To put it simply, Wordle is a word-guessing game. To play, you start out by guessing a five-letter word. Then, once you enter the word, each letter will turn a different color. If the letter is not in the word, it will turn gray. If the letter is in the word but not in the spot you had put it, it will turn yellow. Finally, if the letter is in the right spot, it will turn green. For example, if the word was ‘CRAZE’ and you guessed ‘TRACK’, the R and the A would turn green, the C would be yellow, and the T and K would turn gray. You have six guesses to guess the word and there is only one word a day. 

Wordle was created by a software engineer named Josh Wardle. He made it for his partner because of her love of word games. It was originally just meant to be for them. A few months later, this game rapidly became an obsession in his family’s group chat. When Josh saw how much people loved the game, he decided to release it to the rest of the world in October 2021. On November 1st, only 90 people played the game. Wardle could have never expected what was to come. 

Why has this game become so popular? Well, one possible reason is that it is so easy to share. After you finish playing, you are able to quickly share your results anywhere you want. This creates a sort of friendly competition. Players can try to guess the word in fewer attempts than their family and friends. Unlike many other online games and video games that are designed to make you play for as long as possible, Wordle is only available on a device once a day. In an interview with Newsweek, Wardle said that "The game won't allow you to binge or get addicted. In general, I'm pretty wary of apps that want to consume all of your time and maximize engagement like that. I just don't think that stuff's very nice to do to other people quite frankly." Wordle only being available once a day makes it a special experience for people. Wordle has no ads either. It’s refreshing to see a game that isn’t there for the money, but purely for the players’ enjoyment. 

One final reason why Wordle is so popular: virtually anyone can play it! All you need is an electronic device and some knowledge of words. The user interface is fairly simple and once you know how to play, there are no secret tricks. Anyone from an elementary schooler to a grandparent can play it, and they may even bond over their results. 

All the reasons have helped Wordle become the internet sensation it is today. Now, over 3 million people play Wordle every day. Recently, Wordle was bought by The New York Times for a price in the low seven digits. However, it still remains to be free. (At least for the time being.) Personally, I believe that Wordle is a significant thing in the world right now because it gives us a sense of connection. Even though it may not be as important as current issues, it’s something that everyone can have fun doing without any arguments. There are no personal views and biases brought into the game, it’s just pure fun. During times when everything in the world seems bad, everyone can go to a game like Wordle to give them a little bit of joy.

Image Source: MobileSyrup



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