Wordle has taken the internet by storm since its release, yet some fans may not be familiar with the word game's heartwarming origin story or the meaning behind its name. This fun puzzle can be played for free once a day and is easily accessible to anyone online. Wordle was originally created by Josh Wardle for his wife, Palak Shah, and was later refined into the beloved game known today. The title is a fun play on the creator's last name, also signaling its word-centric nature.
Playing this browser-based puzzle game is easy to understand, but guessing the right word in only six attempts can be difficult. Luckily, there are a few specific strategies that can be employed in Wordle to raise the chances of success. After each guess, the game tells the user whether any of the letters they used are in the answer by coloring each box. Words with multiple vowels and common letters tend to be the most optimal guess, such as "raise," but choosing the right word for a given guess is always a big part of the fun. Fortunately, the options for daily words are limited, and this is all thanks to Mrs. Shah.
According to an article in The New York Times, Wardle created a game for his significant other after they "got really into" the newspaper's Spelling Bee and daily crosswords. This eventually developed into the basic version of the viral word game Wordle, which would eventually become a live game enjoyed by fans across the world. The English language has around 12,000 five-letter words, though too many of them are quite obscure. Wardle had Shah sift through every option and pick out all the words she knew, totaling about 2,5o0. He said that limiting the game to once per day "enforced a sense of scarcity" and this would come to entice players to come back the following day. Since Wordle was released back in October of 2021, the fun word game Wardle created for his wife has garnered massive success.
Wordle Is A Sensational Hit Among Fans
In the same New York Times article, it is reported that on November 1, 2021, only 90 people played the game. Just two months later, Wordle gained a total of 300,000 players. As the word game's audience grew, so did interest from the media. The New York Times eventually bought Wordle for over one million dollars in late January of 2022. This new ownership worried some fans, who feared that the free word puzzle game would be put behind a paywall. The company said at the time that they would still allow players to enjoy Wordle every day unhindered, and the game has, at least so far, remained free.
The incredible success of a simple word puzzle Wardle constructed for his wife is phenomenal. Fans that started playing after the New York Times acquisition may not know that the name Wordle is simply just a play on the creator's last name, but Wardle will certainly be remembered for his contribution to puzzle and word games in the coming years. Only time will tell how long the game remains popular, but there are still enough words left to keep fans guessing for a long time to come.
Source: The New York Times