Assuming you’re not totally oblivious to word games, you’ve probably heard of Wordle, an online word game that requires players to guess a five-letter word in six tries. Since being featured in major publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the game has exploded in popularity. In many ways, it feels like it’s invaded every corner of the puzzling internet. If you’re one of the converts, here are ten fun facts about Wordle to tell all your puzzling friends.
- Wordle was created by a software engineer in Brooklyn named Josh Wardle.
Wardle, who works at Reddit, first envisioned the game in 2020 at the peak of the first COVID-19 lockdown. But he kept it to himself for a while before he shared it at the end of 2021.
- The game was a romantic endeavor.
Created during pandemic-related isolation, Wordle was partly a way for Wardle to keep himself entertained. But it was also a declaration of love for his partner, Palak Shah, who loves word games. She provided input on the game and ultimately helped him to narrow down word lists.
- The name ‘Wordle’ comes from the creator’s name.
A fan of puns – and, clearly, wordplay – Josh Wardle named the game after himself, with a small change to make the game’s word-based origins obvious to new players.
- Wordle has been one of the quickest successes in puzzling games, ever.
When’s the last time you saw a simple game take the world so much by storm? Wordle has grown at an incredible rate, from 90 people a day in November to a staggering two million by mid-January. And the figure is likely even higher now. The word game craze may die off eventually, but it’s hard to deny this is a real success story.
- The game can’t go on forever.
Wardle says he’s composed a list of approximately 2,500 five-letter words. At Wordle’s current rate of one game a day, that list would last just under seven years. At that point, it’s unclear what the game would look like. The game could circle back to the beginning of the word list (seven years does seem long enough to forget those early words), or a new version of the game could be created counting four- or six-letter words. Alternately, the game might end.
- There could be more words.
You might be thinking that 2,500 seems like a very small number if it’s meant to encompass all the five-letter words in the English language. Surely there are more! And yes, there are: there are technically 12,000 English words that are five letters long. But most of these words are things you wouldn’t think of. And considering how much people complain when terms like BAYOU come up, it’s hard to imagine the average player succeeding with a stacked deck.
- Wardle thinks the one-puzzle-a-day nature of the Wordle is a major part of its appeal.
If you play Wordle, there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself bemoaning the slow nature of the game. Players only get one game a day, meaning once you’ve finished your game, you’re done. You can’t even go back and play old games! However, Wardle says that this is actually part of the game’s appeal. Unlike other games, Wordle, he says, only takes a few minutes. There’s no exploitation – and that makes it unique. So, sorry, Wordle fans – it looks like you won’t be getting more content any time soon!
- Wordle, which was created by a US-based engineer, uses the US spellings of certain words.
Though for most Wordle games this doesn’t matter – as most words are spelled the same in British and American English – there have been a few notable instances that upset enthusiasts abroad. When FAVOR was the solution, many Brits – who spell the term ‘FAVOUR’ – couldn’t come up with the answer and lost their streaks.
- Wardle sold the website to The New York Times for a seven-figure sum.
Controversy came to the Wordle space when Wardle decided to sell Wordle to The New York Times for a hefty sum. Players worried about the game being put behind a paywall or attacked with ads. But as Wardle told The Guardian in an interview before the acquisition, “It’s not my full-time job. And I don’t want it to become a source of stress and anxiety in my life.” Good for Wardle — and hopefully, good for us, too, as the game gets more funding and more workers behind it!
Our Other Wordle Tools
Are you a major Wordle fan? Be sure to check out some of our other helpful Wordle tools, including our Wordle Solver Tool for when you’re stuck! Or check out our Daily Anagram game, which can help keep you entertained once you’ve finished your daily Wordle.
