Last Updated on January 22, 2024 by Umer Malik
Problem solvers, linguists, come one, come all! Rumour has it there’s a new word puzzle game doing the rounds. You’ve probably already heard of it, to be honest. The free-to-play game was recently bought by the New York Times “in the low seven-figures”. Not bad, creator Josh Wardle. It’s ad-free, simple to learn, yet complicated to master. Sounds like the perfect recipe to me.
The game is Wordle, and it’s taking the internet by storm. It’s basically the new Kickass Proxy minus the controversy. With nothing but a 5×6 grid and the English alphabet, it’s up to you to guess the word of the day, through elimination, critical thinking, and a healthy sliver of luck. Reckon you’ve got what it takes to earn an impressive winning streak?
Don’t fret, you’ve come to the right place. We’re taking a holistic look at the game, from basic gameplay all the way to the most competitive strategies. Sorry Scrabble, your time in the sun is over. There’s a new puzzle on the street that matches our fickle, 21st-century attention spans. Sorry, David Bowie Hunky Dory, I still love you. Anyway, let’s not waste any more time. Here we go.
Table of Contents
How To Play
Wordle is a brief affair. Every day, there’s a new 5-letter word to guess. This mystery word is the same for everyone around the world. You’ll have 6 guesses to get it right, however, thankfully, Wordle won’t make you guess blindly. Let’s say you guess ‘round’ first. If the letter ‘r’ is in the right spot, (first letter), it will be coloured green. Now, you know to only guess words that begin with ‘r’. If a letter you entered is in the mystery word, say ‘u’, but not in the right position, it will be coloured yellow. You should continue using this letter in different positions until it shines green.
Continuing our example, the player would continue their guesses until they find the mystery 5-letter word. If they don’t get the word right by guess no. 6, they will lose the game and their daily winning streak (if they have one). So, what’s the cutting edge strategy?
Winning Strategies
You’ve only got 6 guesses, so it’s crucial that every guess you make results in new information. We would highly recommend cramming as many vowels as you can into your first guess, as vowels are the most commonly used letters. Popular first guesses include ‘alien’, ‘roate’ and ‘crane’.
From there, the next most commonly used letters are ‘t’, ‘n’, and ‘s’. Notice that our three recommendations all include at least one of these. Depending on the results of your first guess, ‘stain’, ‘stone’, and ‘snout’ are all solid guesses. From there, what you guess should be strictly guided by the information you’ve accumulated.
Losing Strategies
When possible, absolutely never use grey letters in your guesses. What are letters words? They’re the letters that you’ve already used that aren’t in the final word. Try to veer away from using letters like ‘z’ and ‘q’, as they’re rarely going to occur in the final answer. Or in any word, to be honest.
Why Is Wordle Popular
There are a plethora of commendable design choices that have contributed to Wordles universal success. The first obvious – it’s entirely free. In a saturated video game market full of sneaky in-app purchases, pay to win schemes, and other frustrations, it’s truly a breath of fresh air to play a game that asks nothing of you but your time.
Secondly, there are no pop-up ads. This is so seldom for free-to-play games, I was genuinely shocked when I opened the browser for the first time. Just look at all of that beautiful white space not being exploited by advertisements to squeeze every last profit out of your screen time.
Thirdly, the sleek sharing design. Once you complete a daily Wordly puzzle, you’re able to share your results online with a very cute, simple design. Instead of sharing your word guesses and spoiling the final word for others, you will only share the colours of your guesses. This way, people can see your line of thought and cunning plays without spoiling any of the fun for themselves. Having an enticing means of sharing your results means more shares, which means more new players, which means more success.
Finally, there’s the simplicity of the English game. Unlike cryptic, cruel crosswords that pretty much require a master in English to even attempt, Wordle is a game for everyone. Take your guesses, and then move on with the rest of your day. The fact that you can only play it once per day is also a huge bonus. It keeps Wordle fresh and exciting. Too much of anything is always a bad idea. Happy Wordle-ing, and may the odds be ever in your favour.
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