Over the past week, you’ve probably noticed green and yellow tiles flooding your social feeds. Turns out it’s not another emoji meme but a new daily word game called Wordle, and it has fully captivated the internet
It’s like a combination of hangman, the code-breaking board game Mastermind and a crossword puzzle but without the hints. Every day you’ll get six chances to guess a five-letter word. Once you type your guess into the grid and submit, incorrect letters will turn grey, correct letters that are in the wrong sequence will turn yellow and correct letters/correct placement will turn green. Each subsequent guess should help you to narrow down the correct answer. Still, the game requires your thinking hat, especially if you’re not going to cheat by googling “list of 5-letter words.” And, again, you can only play the game once a day, so you’ve got to be conservative with your six tries.
Part of the reason the game has blown up on social media is due to a mechanism that allows players to upload their Wordle scores directly to Twitter (hence the green, yellow and grey blocks all over your feeds). And because Twitter is swimming with self-important people ready to pounce at the opportunity to humblebrag about their accomplishments, a game like Wordle is naturally going to thrive on the platform. (Relax, we know there are a bunch of very sweet, well-meaning nerds who like to share their scores as well.)
The game was invented by Josh Wardle (yes, the game is a play on his own name), a software engineer who told the New York Times he created the game for his partner because she loves word games (how romantic). Wardle also added that the no-frills game doesn’t want you to become attached to it like other online games vying for your undivided attention.
“It’s something that encourages you to spend three minutes a day,” he said. “And that’s it. Like, it doesn’t want any more of your time than that.”
But what if you want more of Wordle’s time? What if you would prefer to spend your entire day guessing five-letter words? Well, luckily another very smart person has come up with a solution.
Meet “hello wordl,” a Wordle clone for those who want to play the game all the live long day.
Developed by Twitter user @chordbug, a programmer and musician from Belgium, hello wordl is “a less social but infinitely replayable” game of Wordle. The new iteration features all the same gameplay as traditional Wordle except you can play it forever and even change the length of the hidden word, choosing from four- to 11-letter words.
You also won’t be able to brag about your score on Twitter. Darn!
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