Have you been asked, “Have you done the Wordle today?” and questioned; what even is a wordle? If you’ve been on social media lately, you might be asking; what’s with all the posts with green and gray boxes? That’s Wordle.

‘Wordle’ is a daily word game, where you are given six tries to guess the word. After each attempt, it will show green, yellow, or gray boxes depending on whether you got the letter in the right position, or if the letter is even in the word. If the letter is right, it will be green. If the letter is in the word, but not in the right spot, it is yellow. If the letter is not in the word at all, it will be shown as gray.

The game was created by software engineer Josh Wardle, named as a play on words of his name. It was initially intended for just his partner. The game was developed in October, and now has over 2.7 million players. The New York Times bought the game for over a million dollars just a few weeks ago. Now, it seems just about everyone is playing the game.

‘Wordle’ is not the only word game gaining traction, however. ‘Wordle’ clones are catching fire due to the growing popularity of the site. Fans of the original game are wanting more. These games are also only available once a day, with extremely similar concepts.

‘Dordle’, ‘Quordle’, and ‘Octordle’ are three Wordle clones that allow the player to complete either 2, 4, or 8 Wordle-like puzzles at once. Every guess goes into all of the puzzles, making it much more difficult than the regular game.

Another ‘Wordle’ spinoff is ‘Worldle’, a geography game. In this game, you guess the name of a country based on an image, and it will tell you how far away and in what direction on a map the correct answer is from your guess.

A few of these ‘Wordle’ copies are more than just a fun game. There are sites that may spread cultural awareness.

‘Queerdle’ is an addition to the long list of ‘Wordle’ inspired games. This game is based on LGBTQ+ words. This game is bringing awareness to LGBTQ+ issues and vocabulary. After some games, they will show an explanation, sometimes a description of a specific event once the player guesses the word right. This is informative to those wishing to learn LGBTQ+ terms and history. ‘Jewdle’ is a game that is based on Jewish culture, Hebrew and Yiddish.

These are just a few of many ‘Wordle’ equivalents. These lookalikes allow for ‘Wordle’ addicts to play more than one game a day, and different types of games. The influence that ‘Wordle’ has had on game producers is exceeding and proves the growth of the game over such a short period.

It’s no secret that ‘Wordle’ has taken control in recent weeks. Everyone is glued to their screens, trying to figure out the daily puzzle. Will it continue to thrive, or will it fade out like every other fad?

Wordle: https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/

References:

Smith, Gerry. ‘New York Times Is Buying Wordle For More Than $1 Million’. Time. 31 January 2022. https://time.com/6143832/new-york-times-buys-wordle/

Doubek, James. ‘Here’s What’s Behind the Wordle Craze’. NPR. 12 January 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/01/12/1071840091/wordle-word-game-tips