Over the past few months, a game has been taking the world by storm. Josh Wardle, the creator of “Wordle” released the game to the public at the start of October. During this time an average of ninety people played the game. On Sunday, just over two months later, more than 300,000 people played. Wardle had no idea that people all over social media would be sharing little green, yellow, and gray mosaics all over the web.
Reminiscent of the classic board game “mastermind” in which one player hides a sequence of five colors for the others to guess the right order, Wordle gives players six chances to decode the correct five letter word. Green indicates that the letter is in the right place, yellow means that the letter is included in the word but not in the right spot, while the gray demonstrates that the letter is not at all included. As a player starts guessing different words, the letters that are imputed correctly turn this vibrant green. When the word is finally guessed players are allowed to celebrate their victories with their peers. Because the word being guessed is universal, it adds another great aspect to the game. Mark Blatt an 11th Grade student states, “Whenever I guess the right word my day is settled and I can move on. It is such a simple game that is so enjoyable to play.” Mark makes an excellent point. After playing, people go about their day pondering about which word they will input first the following day.
Limiting players to only one game per day was the key to the games success. Enforcing a sense of scarcity around players, leaving people wanting more and more each day. Wordle does not send notifications or messages to your phone hoping one will come back later in the day, not forming an intense relationship with the fanbase. The lack of relationship simply leaves the sensation of getting the word correctly inside your head. This simplicity and attractiveness is what people love about the game. Nowadays, people have very short attention spans, therefore, this mind game is perfect for teenagers and millennials as people spend no more than more than five minutes doing something. The lack or reminder is what causes this intense relationship.
Players all around the world share their successes through the little colored plaids. Although it does not reveal the word, it gives a hint to the level of difficulty of the word. If people are sharing less lines, it is a less challenging word, however, if all the six lines are taken, players expect a strenuous term. The way the word is kept hidden all contributes to the mysteriousity of the game. Samuel Attias, a 11th Grade Student says, “The excitement I get when a letter of mine turns green, ah, it is unmatchable. When I get the whole word correctly, I immediately go to twitter and share my score. It is such a simple game, I love it!”
Recently, The New York Times bought Wordle making it an official part of the New York Times portfolio. Although the price was not released to the public, the Times claimed that it was bought “in the low seven figures” indicating that it was more than one million dollars. Wardle, the original creator alleges, “I’ve long admired The Times’s approach to the quality of their games and the respect with which they treat their players, their values are aligned with mine on these matters and I’m thrilled that they will be stewards of the game moving forward.”
Some expected Wordle to be costly now, however, Wordle will be free to play and no changes will be made to its original state, leaving players at ease.