What is Wordle? The game filling your Twitter feed with squares

Everyone from Marian Keyes to Richard Osman is playing it

Fri, 07 Jan, 2022 - 09:20

Nicole Glennon

If you've been on Twitter in the last week you’ve probably noticed your newsfeed slowly filling up with weird numbers and coloured squares accompanied by the word ‘Wordle.’

Everyone from Irish author Marian Keyes to British Labour MP Jess Philips and Richard Osman is getting involved — but what is it and how do you play?

What is Wordle?

Wordle is a free, online word game that was created by software engineer Josh Wardle. Wardle created the game for his partner who loves word games (how romantic!), but the game has now amassed a cult following.

The game challenges the player to find a five-letter word in six guesses with a new puzzle published daily.

How do I play?

Simply guess a five-letter word to start and hit enter. The boxes for each letter will then turn grey, yellow or green. Grey means the letter isn't in the word, yellow means the letter is in the word but you’ve put it in the wrong place, and green means you've got both the letter and placement correct.

Using what you’ve learned from your first guess, you can repeat the process 5 more times.

You can only use real words so there’s no point using a random assortment of letters. We tried.

Where can I play?

The game is available to play for free here. There are no adverts on the site and there is currently no smartphone app for the game — and it looks like it will stay that way. Its creator Josh Wardle told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he’s “a bit suspicious of mobile apps that demand your attention and send you push notifications to get more of your attention" for their games. For now, the only reminder to play the game each day is your aunt's tweet.

Will I annoy everyone if I post my results daily on Twitter?

Probably. As one Twitter user put it, you either die a hero ranting about how no one cares about Wordle results or live long enough to see yourself post Wordle results.