Wordle is a word-guessing game that has taken over the Twitter feed in recent days and has become an internet fever. If you have seen green and yellow blocks on your profile timeline it is probably because your friends have already joined the game.
Wordle runs in the browser, so there is no need to download any software and it works on almost all types of computers, even the most modest ones. The name of the game comes from the word Word, which means “word” in English, and works much like the Brazilian Hangman game, so most people are probably familiar with the style.
How to play Wordle?
To start the game just visit the official website and start playing. You need to guess the Wordle of the day in only six guesses. After each guess, the color of the spaces will change to show how close (or not) your guess was to the chosen word.
Wordle rules
- If you get the right letter in the right place, the square will be painted green.
- If you get the right letter, but in the wrong position, the square will be painted yellow.
- If the letter is not in the word of the day, the square will be gray.
- Since you only have six chances, you have to choose well, so as not to miss your chance to get the right wordle. Whoever guesses the word or exhausts all attempts will see the correct result and can share their performance on social networks. There is also an option to view the statistics of the day and see how other players did in the game.
Why is Wordle so popular?
It is hard to say for sure why this simple game has gone viral, but there are a few hypotheses. The first possibility is its simplicity: it is easy to play, does not use any memory, runs on PCs or cell phones.
Another factor is the speed with which it can be completed and the ease with which the results can be shared with friends, which stimulates competition. In addition, the rules are simple enough for most people to understand to start playing in a matter of seconds.
Players from all countries can share results and compare whether their performance was better or worse that day. Other players around the world can also create competitions via social networks to stimulate play.
Where did Wordle come from?
The game’s creator was software engineer Josh Wardle, a former Reddit employee, who decided to make a joke out of his name. He had already created other social experiments, such as Place, released on April Fool’s Day 2017. The game was created together with his partner, Palak Shah, to spend time playing together during the pandemic.
After publicizing the game in a family WhatsApp group – and making a big splash – the developer decided to unveil the creation to the world in October 2021. In Wardle’s view, since the title can only be played once a day, people don’t get sick so easily and can’t wait to play again.