What’s Behind The Meteoric Rise Of Wordle?
Why this charming 3-minute word game became an overnight sensation
Do you Wordle?
If you haven’t heard of it, I’m kind of surprised. In the last week or so, half the people I know have asked me if I play.
The speed at which this word game has gained popularity is astonishing. According to the New York Times, a total of 90 people played on November 1, 2021. Two months later, that number was a staggering 300,000.
This week The Guardian is estimating players in the millions.
What’s Wordle?
Wordle is played similarly to Mastermind, but with words instead of colors.
Each day, a new game is available on this website. You’re trying to guess a 5-letter word. You start by typing in any random word, hit Enter and the game indicates how well you did.
If a letter is marked in gray, it’s not in the word. If it’s marked in yellow, it’s a correct letter, in the wrong place. If it’s green, it’s the correct letter in the right place.
Using these clues, you offer up another word. Again, the game will indicate how you did. You have six tries to get the correct word.
When you get it right, all the letters turn green. Victory!
Wordle takes just a few minutes to play. The catch is, there’s only one word per day. Once you’ve played your word, it’s game over until midnight.
Why is Wordle so popular?
We’re all fascinated with the viral effect. How come some things take off, and others don’t?
In this case, I can think of several things going for the game.
- It’s fun, but not that hard — Wordle is just the right amount of challenging to be affirming. If you’re strategic in your opening word (note here I started with “saint”, which has two vowels and 3 common consonants), it shouldn’t take someone fluent in English too long. It’s the fun of Scrabble without the hours of intense competition.
- It’s a dopamine rush: Okay, it’s not rocket science, but it still feels good when all those letters turn green. Don’t believe me? Catch Jimmy Fallon doing a victory lap around his studio from getting it in 5 tries. I find the happiness hit lasts 15–20 minutes. During pandemic times? I’ll take it!
- It’s actually good for you: Wordle is a puzzle game requiring language and logic skills, plus a soupçon of strategy. Brain: activated.
- It’s wholesome: Note the screenshots — there’s no advertising and no offers. Wordle isn’t trying to sell you anything. The game’s originator, Josh Wardle (see what he did there?) created it for his partner. He says he has no interest in making money from it — he just enjoys seeing everyone have so much fun. When does that happen on the Internet anymore?
- It’s shareable: Wardle noticed people sharing their results, so he created a way to do it that doesn’t spoil the game for others.
- Scarcity-urgh!: There’s only one game every 24 hours. When you’re finished, you’re finished. Each day, I’m pumping my fist for more, to no avail. It’s a strategy that keeps me coming back, but also ensures I don’t waste too much time, which ultimately makes me feel better.
A combination of fun, intuitive, shareable, wholesome, and good for you is pretty much irresistible. Combine that with a hard stop of 1 game and you’ve got a phenomenon you can feel good about.
Do you Wordle?
As of Monday, my answer is: yes, yes I do. With enthusiasm.
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