What Is Wordle? And Why Are We So Obsessed?
Are green and yellow tiles blowing up your news feed? That's Wordle, a new legit zero-frills word game that's sweeping the nation.
The game, which is deceptively easy, has catapulted to the internet's latest obsession. From 90 daily players in November 2021 to 300,000 at the beginning of January, to around 2 million this past weekend, according to The Guardian, Wordle has charmed the world.
Wordle was created by software engineer Josh Wardle — yes, even the title is a play on words — for his partner, who loves playing word games while curled up on the couch. He eventually took the project public and it exploded.
"It's something that encourages you to spend three minutes a day," he spilled to The New York Times. "It doesn't want any more of your time than that."
How To Play Wordle:
You start by choosing a five-letter word and typing it out into the grid. A wrong letter will highlight grey, whereas a correct letter will turn yellow, and if the letter happens to be in the correct spot it turns green. You have six tries to guess the word. Obviously, the fewer tries the better!
The game is a combination of smarts and sheer luck. Wardle created a way for players to copy and paste their colored squares without giving away the word onto Twitter, where thousands are sharing their scores daily.
It's legit become a part of many people's daily routines. Wordle posts a new game every 24 hours — downside, you can only play once a day — on its website. The upside? No pop-up ads, no login needed and don't have to pay for anything.
As with anything that takes over the world, social media users have flooded the internet with hilarious memes to celebrate their obsession with the game.
"The high of solving the #Wordle in two, followed by the low of realizing nothing in life really matters," an obsessed fan tweeted.
"When you're only 18 mins away from the next #wordle," another devotee added.
Then there's the occasional scrooge who has had enough of seeing everyone's posts about it, of course.
But what are you waiting for? Go play, but we've warned you: it's addictive!