“Did you do the Wordle yet?” Every 24 hours, the latest Wordle appears. Players get 6 tries to guess the randomized five-letter word of the day. After each guess, it is revealed to the player which letters in the word that they guessed are present in the correct word- gray indicates that letter is not in the word, yellow means that the letter is in the word, but not in that place, and green means that the letter is in the right place. Once you guess six times, your tries are up, and you must wait until the next day to play again. More than 300,000 people play Wordle every day, and since everyone gets the same word, it has become a challenge on social media and amongst friends- who can correctly guess the word in the least amount of guesses (Cnet). While it may seem boring to some, it is absolutely thrilling to thousands of people across the globe. The question remains, how did it become so popular so quickly? 

Developer of Wordle Josh Wardle created the game in October 2021 and vowed that it would remain available to the public on a free website rather than a mobile app, and most importantly to Wardle, ad-free (BBC). Due to the “share” feature that appears once you complete the game, Wordle has become a social media phenomenon. Because of the sensation it created on social media, the New York Times became interested in Wordle. At the end of January 2022, the New York Times acquired Wordle, where it will remain free for the time being. Even Wardle himself is stunned at the success Wordle has brought him, stating that it got “bigger than he ever imagined” (Cnet). 

Wordle’s popularity has expanded across many different genres, with many different variations of games made in wordle format. These Wordle spin-offs play to varying interests, such as Nerdle-in which a new mathematical equation appears every day for math lovers to guess; Worldle- players are given six chances to identify the country based on the shape they are given; and other Wordle-like games focused on specific topics, such as sports players, musical artists, tv shows, etc (Daily Hive). 

Because of its variability and unpredictability, many people have gotten addicted to playing Wordle every day.  While people have not yet been able to grasp why a word game has captured the attention of so many people around the world, it seems as though the Wordle mania has just begun.