Hooked on Wordle? Flex your cúpla focal with a round of Foclach
A screenshot of Foclach, the Irish-language Wordle alternative
So, by now, the world is familiar with Wordle, the word-based puzzle game that's gone from drawing a devoted fanbase to dominating social media newsfeeds every morning in a hail of green and gold squares.
It's also a bit of an anomaly at present - in an age of social media titans, Wordle has millions of people every morning pointing their browsers at a humble mobile website. For now.
The New York Times' buyout of the site, and its plans to move the game to its own online presences before paywalling it entirely, has given rise to any number of clones and variants.
One take on the word-guessing favourite has been slowly garnering a cult audience - Foclach, an Irish-language clone of Wordle.
Aahh now #Foclach 😩😩😩 https://t.co/q2hZUpJANw
— Jane Conroy (@red_enaj) February 2, 2022
Designed by web developer and Irish-speaker Linda Keating, Foclach abides by its source material's rules and, as closely as possible, its interface - the keyboard is obviously a big change.
Start with a five-letter word, and try to figure out the word of the day in five subsequent tries, by seeing which letters turn up green (in the right place), gold (in the word, but in the wrong place), and grey (not in the word).
Where the challenge comes in depends on your command of Irish.
Fluent Gaelgóirí will have no problem venturing guesses and working out the words (much as we do in English), but returning learners and lapsed speakers will be racking their internal Foclóir for answers - a fun way to expand and exercise your vocabulary.
It's taken off in a big way - it's currently being played by 10,000 people in 70 countries around the world, and Irish Twitter has started to illustrate its newsfeeds with as many shamrocks as little squares.
I tried #Foclach, the #Irish version of Wordle. Ooh this was tricky! (Also very cute how they show the results)
— Niamh /ni:v/ Kelly (@NeeveK) February 5, 2022
FOCLACH 12 - 6/6
💛⬛💛⬛⬛
⬛⬛☘️⬛⬛
⬛⬛☘️⬛☘️
⬛⬛☘️☘️☘️
⬛⬛☘️☘️☘️
☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️
If, like your writer, you find yourself trying the cúpla focal to mixed results in your daily life, this might well be one to make part of your daily routine.
And if nothing else, its growing popularity, in its little way, helps puts paid to the lie that Irish is a "dead language" - another way you can see it in the world around you.
- Play Foclach at: https://www.foclach.com/
