New word game, Wordle, becomes latest social media fixation

Due to its quick gameplay and consistency among users, Wordle is dominating conversations in the social sphere. MADDIE MANTOOTH, Staff Photographer.

Although the crossword in the Sunday newspaper might entertain someone who is over the age of 65, there is nothing more agonizing than staring at a list of cryptic clues for hours in hopes of figuring out the obscure nine-letter word that fits the definition of “Heads inside a building.” 

Josh Wardle, creator of new online game “Wordle," created the perfect solution to escape from migraine-inducing puzzles. Essentially, Wordle is an online word game where an individual has six guesses to correctly figure out a five-letter word. 

The game alerts the player with color-coded signals if they’ve inputted the right letters: green if the letter is in the correct spot and yellow if the letter is in the wrong location. The kicker is that there is only one word a day, so players can’t play over and over again into the wee hours of the night. 

“I play Wordle every day. I look forward to it. I'm one of those people that stay up for it,” said Karla Carmona, a sophomore strategic and corporate communications and data analytics double major. “If I notice it's 11:30 p.m., I'm like, ‘Oh there’s a Wordle in 30 minutes.’”

The game has since spread like wildfire across the world. In January 2022, there were roughly 10 million players each day. 

The game began seeing traction on social media, specifically Twitter and TikTok, where people found joy in sharing their strategies for how to get to the answer fastest. Sophomore psychology major Elizabeth Campana, on the other hand, enjoys going into each game with no strategy. 

“I just kind of do whatever I want,” Campana said. “I just want to have fun with it. (My partner and I) were playing last night. We were just guessing random words, and we had one more try. We had two letters correct, and somehow we just randomly guessed it.”

61% of 72 respondents on a poll for The Panther revealed they actively play Wordle. Nevertheless, some students remain hesitant to play at first, unsure if the game lives up to the hype.

“I think the first time I heard about (Wordle) was on ‘Saturday Night Live,’" said freshman film production major Dylan Flores, recalling his initial reaction to the latest social media fixation. "I also saw glimpses of it on Instagram and Twitter. I just thought it was another game that old people play, like Words with Friends. I (thought) there was nothing special to it.”

But once Flores played Wordle for the first time, he said he began to understand the hype.

“I was like, ‘Wow,’ and now I'm kind of addicted to it; I go back to it every single day,” Flores said. “And it's different from those other word games. It’s (only) once a day, so it's not like (you) can spend hours and hours doing it.” 

Amid the buzz, a recent announcement was made stating The New York Times would be buying Wordle for over $1 million. 

Although there is currently no fee to play, some players worry the game might be put behind a paywall in the future. If this becomes the case, Flores said he would most likely stop playing entirely.

“This is just (an example of) big corporations trying to find their way to get people to pay,” said Flores. “Corporations are always going to find a way to capitalize off people.”

Even if the New York Times decides to make players pay, knock off games have been popping up to provide Wordle fans with a similar experience. For example, there is a version of the game titled Sweardle, where players must guess the four letter swear word in four tries. Or even Letterle, where the player receives one attempt to guess one letter correctly. 

But for now, players can continue to enjoy the game free of charge. And due to its growing popularity, Wordle is becoming a conversation-starter across the nation.

“Everyone gets the same word every single day. It's a collective thing that connects everyone around the world,” Flores said. “They got popular because it is one of those games that brings people together and gets people talking about something.”

Correction: An earlier version of this piece previously misnamed sophomore psychology major Elizabeth Campana. Campana’s last name has been adjusted.