The estimated reading time for this post is 4 minutes
If you’re a fan of word games, you should check out Wordle, a free, fun word game that may quickly become a new daily habit for you. The game is simple yet addictively fun.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
About Wordle
Wordle is a free word game that is bursting with popularity. In fact, if you follow any word game fans on Twitter, your feed may have started to fill with images that look like this:
I mean, just because EVERYONE else is playing it.
Wordle 197 4/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩— Richard Osman (@richardosman) January 2, 2022
If you’ve seen these sorts of tweets and haven’t played Wordle yet, you may be wondering what the buzz is all about.
Twitter is divided into three parts:
– people playing wordle
– people asking what wordle is
– people who have ‘wordle’ muted— Lev Parikian (@LevParikian) January 2, 2022
Wordle is a free, simple word game that you play once daily to solve the puzzle. You have six tries to guess a five-letter word. After you solve the puzzle, you can share your results with others by tweeting your results.
The game was launched in October by an engineer at Reddit and rose in popularity last month when the ability to share results was added.
And now you know what Wordle is. (Or at least you’ll know after you’ve finished reading this article.)
Want more word game fun? Check out => Passionate About Pangrams — For Fans of Word Games!
— Not a Spelling Bee Word (@Notaspellingbe1) January 4, 2022
How to Play Wordle
Playing Wordle is about as simple as it gets. Go to the Wordle website to see the day’s puzzle. A new puzzle is available every day.
Note => Wordle is a website only. If you see a Wordle app in the App Store or Google Play, it is a knockoff and not the official Wordle game. Apple has removed Wordle apps from the App Store. See Reuters, Apple pulls Wordle knockoffs from App Store
When you first visit the Wordle site, you’ll be greeted with instructions on how to play the game.
After you close the instructions window, you’ll see six rows of five blank boxes. A keyboard with gray keys appears below the puzzle.
Type five letters to begin guessing which letters are in the word that solves the puzzle. The letters will appear in the top row of squares. Tap or click the backspace key if you change your mind and want to enter different letters.
When you’re satisfied with your guess, hit the ENTER key on the bottom left side of the keyboard.
After you hit the ENTER key, the letters you guessed will change colors, both in the squares and on the keyboard.
- Dark gray -> Letter is not in the puzzle
- Yellow -> Letter is in the puzzle but in a different space than guessed
- Green -> Letter is in the correct space in the puzzle
The colored keys on the keyboard become increasingly helpful as you work your way down the puzzle. You can easily see which letters you haven’t tried yet so you can figure out whether you should try them in your next guess.
If you enter letters that don’t make a word, you’ll get an error notice. Fortunately, attempts that don’t make words don’t count towards your six tries.
Tip => A letter may appear more than once in a Wordle word.
Solving the Wordle Puzzle
If you correctly guess the word in six tries or fewer, you’ll see a pop-up window showing your statistics.
If you play on different devices, Wordle won’t keep track of your statistics across those devices. After all, there aren’t accounts on Wordle. So if you want to build up a win-streak, play on a single device using only one browser.
You can share your results with others on social media by hitting the SHARE button.
To learn about how Wordle was developed as an act of love, check out The New York Times, Wordle Is a Love Story
Settings
The gear icon in the upper right corner of the screen reveals Wordle settings options.
Hard Mode means that you must use the letters that are yellow or green in future guesses. In other words, you can’t pick all new letters in future guesses to try to figure out the letters that solve the puzzle.
Dark Theme makes playing Wordle easier on the eyes. Note that if you share your results, you’ll also share whether you play in dark or light mode.
Wordle exposes who uses dark mode and who uses light mode
— Gabs ✨ (@Gxbriellemxry) December 30, 2021
Find out how to get more Dark Mode in your life => Going Dark — How to Get Dark Mode on Your Devices and Apps
Color Blind Mode adds an accessibility feature for those who might be challenged by the colors of Wordle.
Availability
Wordle is free to use. Just head to the website and start playing. You don’t need to register for an account, start typing to begin playing.
You only get one puzzle a day, so the wait can seem long. Fortunately, when you solve a Wordle puzzle, a countdown clock informs you how long you must wait until the next puzzle.
Your Thoughts
Are you a fan of word games? Were you wondering what the Wordle buzz was all about? Have you tried Wordle?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
This game is mind-blowing. Simple but enjoyable.
Hi Gary, Yes, this game is a fun one. I love how it’s simple to learn, easy to play, and challenging. It’s also good that it’s once a day so that you don’t have to spend too much time on playing it!