Why is Wordle Game so Popular?

Many individuals have felt isolated as a result of the COVID epidemic. Omicron's third wave has arrived. During the epidemic, people are looking for new games to play. I've been clued into the New York Times crossword puzzle, mini crossword, Sudoku, letterbox, and other puzzles for the past two years. All of them are mental games that keep your thinking fresh while your mobility is limited.

The word game "Wordle" has just gone widespread on the internet, and it is catching on like wildfire among older adults and the younger generation. The game is simple: one phrase, six trials, and six squares played once a day. If you haven't heard about Wordle yet, you will shortly.

The game became so popular that the New York Times purchased it last week for an "unspecified sum in the lower seven figures." The purchase will assist the newspaper in expanding its digital content to meet its objective of having ten million subscribers by 2025. According to the publication, "while 90 people played the game on November 1, over 3 lakh people played it on January 2, 2022."

Also Read: NEET-MDS Examinations 2022 Postponed

Wordle is a fascinating epidemic narrative. It's also a love tale since the game's creator, Josh Wardle, a Brooklyn-based engineer, made it for his lover, Palak Shah (hence the Indian connection). In a recent interview, he disclosed, "The goal was to make a game that my partner would enjoy playing." He then told his immediate and extended relatives about it. It quickly caught the attention of the internet community, and it is now a fad. "The game has grown bigger than I ever imagined (which isn't saying much considering I made it for a one-person audience)."

The once-daily online game provides players six chances to guess the five-letter word of the day. You have six chances to predict the "wordle" for that day. The letter becomes green if you think about it correctly. When a letter is accurate but in the wrong location, it turns yellow, and when it is incorrect, it remains black. The challenge is that no clues are supplied, so you're shooting in the dark.

The game is accessible in French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, German, and Norwegian, among other languages. The Wordle has also been translated into Tamil, but the Tamil script is syllabic.

Last month, it was my daughter who piqued my curiosity about the game. It has now evolved into a family game. Every morning, we send each other cryptic texts about how we did. A word game hasn't been this popular since Scrabble. It's a single-player puzzle that incorporates components from a variety of games, including Scrabble and Battleship. It's completely free, and you can play it on any smartphone, computer, or tablet.

Wordle now has a slew of political backers. During the ongoing situation in Balochistan, Pakistan President Arif Alvi was playing wordle. When the Pakistan Army was fighting the Balochistan Liberation Army, he sent out a tweet (BLA). He was chastised by the Pakistani populace as a result.

In India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took the lead and posted a fake screenshot with terms like "JUMLA," "TAXES," "HUMDO," "JHOLA," "SNOOP," and "PHOTO." He posted the caption "Guess who?" beside the tweet. Another message —"Wordle 056 6/6"—alludes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "56-inch chest" photograph. Shashi Tharoor, a former minister, is another politician who participates in the game regularly. There are plenty more.

Because you can share your score in the game's social feature, it's a terrific way to start conversations and interact. The daily Twitter discourse of Wordle has increased by 48 per cent in India.

People feel that playing mind games is vital to keeping the mind sharp, hence the game has gained popularity.

Other games include crossword puzzles, which are quite popular. Arthur Wynne, a New York Times editor, discovered the game for the paper's entertainment department on the eve of World War I. The newspaper has also released Letterboxed, a new game in which you spell words by linking letters in a box. It was released in 2019 and is quite popular among mind-game enthusiasts.

Then there's SUDOKU, which has been there since the 18th century. According to the Economist, the game "Latin Squares" was invented by a Swiss mathematician. Howard Games, a freelance puzzler from Indiana, is credited with inventing the contemporary SUDOKU.

Going back to reading classics and playing mind games will not only keep your mind healthy, but it will also likely be a preventative remedy for depression and other mental health issues that may arise as a result of the epidemic. Games like wordle and other word games keep your mind active and fresh as the doctors say, "We have to live with COVID."