It all started when a software engineer based in Brooklyn wanted to express his love for his partner. The software engineer, Josh Wardle developed this game for his partner, Palak Shah. She also played a part in helping this idea all come together. The name of this game is a play on Josh Wardle’s last name.

Wardle got this idea since he knew how much Shah loved to play puzzle games. He knew that she was interested in the New York Times Spelling Bee and their daily crossword puzzle. Wordle is similar to a decoding game called Mastermind. Mastermind is a two-player game where one player creates a code consisting of four colors out of 8 colors while the other player has to figure out the code by finding out what colors the first player chose and what order they put it in.

Wordle is a puzzle game that can only be played on a website. The website is based in the United Kingdom but the game can be enjoyed internationally. The objective of the game is to guess a five-letter word in six tries. The game can only be played once a day where everyone is given the same word. Once a word is entered, the letters will turn different colors to show the player if they are correct or incorrect. If the letter is gray, the letter is not in the correct word; if the letter is yellow, the letter is in the correct word, but the player did not place it in the correct place; if the letter is green, the letter is in the correct word and in the correct place.

Only after a few months upon release, Wordle has reached around 3 million players. It launched in October last year. It can be known that this game is genuinely for fun instead of profit because there are no advertisements on the site. “I think people kind of appreciate that there’s this thing online that’s just fun,” Wardle stated to The New York Times.

As simple as the game is, the time and effort put into it is impressive. Shah, Josh’s partner, was given the task to sift through 12,000 five-letter words for Wordle. She was able to shorten the list of words to 2,500. Since the game only allows players to play once a day and everyone is given the same word, this list of five-letter words will last almost seven years of play.

This game is definitely a fun experience for students wanting to test their knowledge of five-letter words. It is also a fun game to challenge your friends to. This short game allows students to fit it into their routine at ease. Since this game can only be played once a day, it encourages individuals to take a small break and let themselves rest while enjoying a brain-teaser. Even Preuss’s teachers have been able to get a chance to play.

“Wordle has a few elements that make it fun. One is the scarcity: you only get to play it once a day. Two is its accessibility: anyone can get it-you don’t have to have an iPhone or Android, you don’t have to download an app, anyone has access to it if you have access to the internet. Three is the competition: so, competing with other people. Four would be its simplicity: it’s not complicated, so people don’t have to put in that much effort to it; everyone gets a fresh start to it each day,” middle school history teacher, Mr. Carr exclaims.

At the end of January, the New York Times bought Wordle for an undisclosed sum but it has been reported that Wordle has sold for seven figures. With Wordle’s growing popularity, there is no question as to why the New York Times was interested in the game. Wardle has stated that selling his creation has felt “natural” to him.