Wordle: Everything you need to know about the word game for now

Wordle is a popular word game lately. The recipe is very simple, but all this is highly addictive. Here’s what you need to know.

Wordle has been around for a few months now and is almost inevitable now, especially if you spend time on Twitter. All those yellow, green and gray posts? Yes, it’s Wordle. But what exactly?

What is wordle?

Wordle is a word game that you can find here (in the original version) or there (in the French version). This is a game that is played only once a day, only online. Every 24 hours a new word. You must find it.

Wordle gives you six chances to find a randomly selected five letter word. If you have a letter in the right place, it appears in green. A letter that is present in the word but in the wrong place is displayed in yellow. A letter that is not in the word is displayed in gray.

You are allowed six words, in other words, you can give five words to get clues about the letters and their placement. And then a chance to compile those clues and find the right word. Or you can try to put on a “play”to try to become a word in three, two or even one try. Simple, but very addictive.

So it’s just a pun?

Yes, it’s just a pun. But it is very popular: several hundred thousand players every day. And this popularity may be bewildering, but it is ultimately quite easy to explain.

There is only one grid per day: this creates a certain level of anticipation. You only have one chance to play Wordle of the Day. If you fail, you will have to wait until the next day on a brand new grid.

Everyone plays on the same grid: this is important, it facilitates interaction between players and even with those who do not play it. “Today was difficult”, “How did you do it?”, “Passed today?”

Sharing your results is very easy: once the mesh is complete, whether success or failure, you can share your mesh. Words and letters are hidden. That’s the whole point. After all, you only share lines and colors. And the riddle of the day is not spoiled.

Thus, Wordle is not just a play on words. It’s a conversation starter and an opportunity to showcase your social media skills.

Tips and tricks

If you’re a pun enthusiast, you may not need some of the tips and tricks below. If not, here’s what might help:

Choose your first word: The first word is very important. To maximize the value of your first try, choose a word with as many vowels as possible – media, radio, goodbye, etc. – Finding the vowels in such a short word is very important.

Avoid reusing gray letters: There is a keyboard at the bottom of the grid that displays green, yellow, and gray letters. Avoid reusing gray letters. Yes, it sounds obvious, but it can be hard to come up with five-letter words that don’t use the letters you’ve already tried.

Letters can appear multiple times: this complicates things, especially when you run out of letters and are nearing the end of the grid. But the letters are often repeated, finally.

Who developed Wordle?

Wordle in its original version is the work of software engineer Josh Wardle, who created this game for his partner, who is a big fan of word games. He also told the BBC that his game would never be polluted by ads. Josh Wardle is also the creator of Place, a social experiment, collaborative art project that was born in April 2017. It was a shared online space where everyone could “fight”for what appeared in that space. The result of these experiments was, so to speak, a gigantic cacophony of pixels.

Wordle was featured in the New York Times in November, but its popularity skyrocketed when social media sharing features arrived.

In a Reddit post, Joe Wardle explained that he wanted the Wordle to be like a croissant, a “delicious break”that is eaten from time to time. This explains why there is only one grid per day. “Enjoy it too much and it will lose its charm.”

Beware of wordle clones

After this huge success, many Wordle clones were registered in the app stores. Apple and Google are on the hunt for offensive apps, but caution must be exercised.

Some want you to pay, others are more likely to contain malware. Warning!