Wordle’s Rise to the Top

Wordle has taken the world by storm since its creation in October 2021. It became an overnight sensation that appeals to adults, and teens alike. 

Wordle is a guessing game in which you are given six chances to guess a five letter word. After each guess, the letters glow one of three colors: gray, yellow, or green. When the tiles are gray, the letter has no place in the word of the day. The yellow tiles indicate that the chosen letter is in the word, but it’s in the wrong tile. The green tiles reflect that the letter is placed in the correct tile.

The guessing game was created by Brooklyn software engineer, Josh Wardle. By November, only 90 people had played it. Two months later, the game’s popularity sky-rocketed, and upwards of 300,000 people had played it. 

Wordle’s success has since been attributed to players sharing their scores across social media platforms. It also lacks the high volume of ads that seem to plague the rest of the internet. 

In true internet fashion, copycat apps have popped up, often mimicking the iconic “le” of Wordle. For example, internet users can guess airport abbreviations on the website “Airportle.” In another case, “Queertle” allows users to guess terms that are a part of the queer community. 

Wordle has become so successful that it took a mere five months for the New York Times to take notice of the website. It was announced on Monday, January 31st, 2022 that the New York Times would buy the website, and while the exact sum has not been revealed, it was said to be in the “low seven-figures” according to the New York Times themselves.

Wordle is available to play on the New York Times website. Simply type in your favorite five letter word and go.