The Newest and (Maybe) the Most Fun Word Game Yet
Wordle lovers rejoice — plus, it’s got a sweet name
Okay, I’ve gone off the deep end with word-based games. I’ll be the first to admit, I actually look forward to the break in my day when I can sit down a do my daily Wordle.
For those unfamiliar Wordle is a daily online game (bought from Josh Wardle by the New York Times) where players attempt to guess a five-letter word of the day in six attempts or less. Guesses with the correct letters in the correct place will turn the tiles green, correct letters in the incorrect place will turn the tiles yellow, and incorrect letters will stay grey.
But, not only do I Wordle. I also Worldle (guessing a country), Quordle (four Wordle games simultaneously), Octordle (eight Wordle games simultaneously), Factle (guessing ranked facts), Crosswordle (backward Wordle — if you are interested read more here), Semantle (daily word guessing game — if you are interested read more here), Canuckle (Canadian Wordle), Lewdle (bad words Wordle) and now have added another one to the Wordle-verse mix.
And what, pray tell, am I adding to this insanity?
Waffle was created by James Robinson (James Robinson here on Medium). Named by Ness Kittenden (who can be found here on Instagram) and inspired by, you guessed it, everyone’s favourite daily word game Wordle. Waffle even has its own Twitter account, so you can follow along.
Sold as “the waffle-shaped word game” — the rules are fairly simple.
You are given a puzzle and allotted a certain amount of swaps (15 in total) for letters on the board. You are attempting to have all letters in the puzzle solved (using a Wordle similar set of rules with green, yellow, or grey tiles) in these 15 moves or else you lose. Also of note, every Waffle puzzle can be solved in at least 10 moves, and you are awarded stars for every extra moves you have remaining out of the 15 (think similar to Wordle’s scoring system).
This game has captured my attention because of the strategy required to complete the puzzle in as few moves as possible. I love this game for the many moving parts.
I lost my first game attempted but already I’m chomping at the bit to have another kick at the can. Unfortunately, I have to wait a while since a new puzzle generates every 24-hours from the last play rather than at midnight. This is the only downside to the game, but only because I want to play a new puzzle right now.
Following a round you are provided the etymology, meaning, and pronunciation of each word in the puzzle (which is a fantastic and engaging touch). This has overthrown Factle as my favourite word game du jour.
Have you fallen down the rabbit hole nearly as hard as I have? Have you tried Waffle yet? What is your go-to word game? Would love to hear what your favourite daily games are and why — drop them in a comment below.