Over the past few weeks, you may have seen people share an image on social media like the one seen above, with the word “Wordle” attached to it, and been very confused.
Well friend, it’s time to let the confusion end, because Wordle is a new daily word game that has word nerds all over the world obsessed with trying to guess a five-letter word.
Recommended Videos
The premise of Wordle is very simple: All you have to do is guess the five-letter word of the day. There are no hints or clues to help you guess, but you do get some help along the way.
You get six attempts at guessing the word. For every attempt, Wordle will let you know how close you are to figuring out the clue. Incorrect letters turn up gray, correct letters show up as yellow and if the letter is in the correct spot, too it will show up as green.
By process of elimination and using your noggin, your goal is to guess the word in as few attempts as possible. The game is so simple, but when you’re just throwing five-letter words out there and hoping you’ll get a match, it can be extremely difficult to come up with educated guesses.
The first time I played it, I used all six guesses, and didn’t come up with the word of the day, which was “gorge.” The second time I played, I got lucky by guessing the letter “u” in the correct spot, but it still took me five tries to figure out the word.
If you’ve been a fan of “Wheel of Fortune” your entire life or love playing Words With Friends on your phone, then Wordle is a game right up your alley.
The only disappointing thing is that you can only play it once a day. Which, is retrospect, is maybe a good thing since the game is so addicting.
The creation of Wordle even has a charmed story. The New York Times reported that software engineer Josh Wardle (yes, the name of the game is a pun) and his partner created the game as just a fun side project, but eventually took it to the public back in October of last year after his family group chat became obsessed with playing it.
The number of people who dabble in Wordle has gone from about 90 to 300,000, as of Sunday, with more and more getting invested and playing.
All you have to do it go to the Wordle website here and start guessing words. Once you’ve guessed the word (or your six attempts are up) you can easily share your results to Twitter or in a group chat with friends. The results show your guesses with the colors and not the actual letters, so your friends can see how you did without giving away the answer.
It’s also a no frills kind of game. You don’t need an app or need to login to create an account. You can play on your desktop or your phone. Just head to the Wordle website and start guessing.
In times in which you may need a 10-minute escape from the never-ending headlines of COVID and beloved celebrities dying, Wordle could not have come at a more perfect time.
Happy guessing!
