quiz
“Wordle”: Viral word puzzle inspires hundreds of thousands of players every day
“Wordle”: This is how simple the online puzzle looks
A few weeks ago, the programmer Josh Wardle put a new word puzzle online. The website now reaches hundreds of thousands of players every day – and casts a spell over many people.
The principle of “Wordle” is very simple: Every day an English term is searched that is five characters long. Users then have to guess which term it is. If letters from your guessed term match the real word, they are highlighted in yellow. If the letters are even in the right place, they are shown in green. If, on the other hand, a letter does not appear in the searched word, it is displayed in black. “Wordle” players have a total of six tries before the answer is revealed.
“Wordle”: Hype about a new online puzzle
As simple as the principle of “Wordle” is, the online puzzle is just as contagious: programmer Josh Wardle only put the game online in October. At the beginning of November he already reached almost 100 users, and according to his statements, there are now several hundred thousand participants per day.
The reason for the rush could also be a sharing function on “Wordle”: Users can easily share their attempt on networks such as Twitter. The progress of the experiments is displayed via emoji, as on the website yellow, green and black blocks are used for this.
“Wordle” programmer reveals the secret of his game’s success
Another success factor: Exactly one new word comes out every day that players have to guess. So all players are puzzling over the same word and although there is a certain addictive factor, players also know that the pastime will not keep them busy for an indefinite period of time: Six attempts, more are not possible per day and even old “Wordles” can no longer be retrospectively be played.
For Josh Wardle it is definitely part of his recipe for success, as he told the “New York Times”: “Wordle encourages you to play a few minutes a day. And that is all – after that you can go on with your life as normal.”
Sources:“New York Times”, Twitter, “Wordle”