Playing games on your phone can be rather addicting. Remember the Candy Crush craze a few years back when it was brand new? Yeah, I lost a ton of sleep that first week when I downloaded the app to my phone.
But recently, the latest phone game obsession has been Wordle, which has about 2 million players and counting.
The premise for Wordle is quite simple: You have to guess the five-letter word. So, for example, based on clues, you then type in your answer. If it is correct the boxes will turn green; if they turn yellow then it means the letters are in the word, but not in the right order; and if they turn grey then you are way off the mark. Essentially, Wordle is what would happen if a crossword puzzle and Wheel of Fortune were to have a baby.
Each player has six tries to correctly guess the daily word. It is the same across the game, so you can see your results as compared to other players. Plus, if you correctly guess the word in fewer tries, I believe that counts towards something! Check out the photo below from University of the Pacific for an example:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZIkBr1J01S/
The idea for Wordle started back in late 2021 when software engineer, Josh Wardle, came up with the game idea for his partner.
It was then extended to his friends and family in a WhatsApp group. And from there, the idea just sort of blossomed. It is no telling what will be next for the newest game craze and its creator, but we can definitely say this is a great example of how following your passion can lead to success.
Wordle 219 X/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛I just gave up and smacked the same word thrice to end my misery.
— Avi Seth (@UnSethled) January 23, 2022
One University of Utah professor, Thi Nguyen, believes that the game’s successful take-off can be attributed to the fact that your achievements within the game can easily be shared on social media.
As Nguyen explained to Smithsonian Magazine, “I don’t know any other game that has nearly as graphically neat a synopsis, where you can just see the whole arc of another’s attempt so quickly.”