Wordle: 5-letter word, 6 chances, 7-digit figures – when simplicity and respect meet success.

Wordle is a web browser word game that has taken the world by storm. Players are given six chances to guess a five-letter word daily. With each guess, comes colour codes to represent whether the letters are in the daily word and if they are in the correct position; dark grey for not present, brown for present but not in the correct position, and green for present and in the correct position.

The simple but ingenious colour-coded easily shared on social media manages to capture the journey of the player without revealing too much to spoil the word for others. A minimalist design and simple gameplay which is playable by anyone as only common words are used.

The New York Times recently jumped on the bandwagon and purchased the game last week for low seven-digit figures to add on to their pre-existing word games such as Spelling Bee and Crosswords. Wordle has also been adapted in other languages.

While most popular games require much commitment from the players to “farm” for things, Wordle does the opposite by posing a daily word challenge rather than being able to guess words continuously. It allows for anticipation for the new word daily and yet players would only need to spend a few minutes to solve for the word rather than hours on a game only to feel guilty for procrastinating on their other duties.

The lack of monetisation in Wordle with no advertisements or promotional links also provides a fresh perspective of respect for its players. It is a stark contrast to the addictive monetisation strategies adapted by popular “gacha” games which have led to huge amounts of money spent on these games.

All-in-all, Wordle might have been successful due to how it suited the short attention span of internet users during the pandemic and the Wordle hype might die out soon enough. However, it leaves a story of how a low-commitment, simple and respectful game thrived in the contrasting world that we live in today filled with complexities and capitalism.

Main Article: https://www.ft.com/content/ab3c8f49-8a4e-4a18-ba7c-93de1b471259