The many forms of Wordle
Hyderabad: Josh Wardle’s Wordle has become one of the most popular games in recent memory. So much so that the daily five-letter puzzle has acquired its own Google search animation, enabled the creation of dedicated online pages that provide players with hints and clues, and spawned a variety of games that mimic its form, style, and approach.
The last ninety days has seen the emergence of so many “wordle-likes” that it’s become nearly impossible to keep track of all of them.
This week ‘Game On’ looks at Wordle’s many iterations as we try and understand how the game’s acceptance by mainstream culture has allowed a variety of word games, puzzles, and trivia, styles to fuse.
Complicating the word challenges
A significant reason of Wordle’s popularity is the game’s simplicity as it requires you to search a five-letter word in six tries every day. While, sustaining the streak day after day is quite a challenge in itself, a lot of players have begun to look for a more challenging version. In comes Wordle2, same as Wordle but with a six-letter solution and the same number of tries. However, with a new puzzle every 12 hours, a tougher puzzle with double the frequency what’s not to like?
However, if Wordle 2 doesn’t cut it then there’s Dordle and Quordle, games which combine 2 and 4 Wordle puzzles at the same time, ones where you try to solve all of them simultaneously. If 4 isn’t enough, then there’s the incredibly overwhelming Octordle which is 8 simultaneous words. If you are tired of the standard Wordle approach, then, there’s Semantle a game that allows you as many guesses as possible but requires you to find the solution by searching for words that are similar in meaning.
Adding gaming elements
The second set of games are similar to Wordle but add dimensions of other games into them. The first of these is Absurdle, an “adversarial” version of Wordle where the game fights back. The AI here is such that it does everything to make the guessing process more difficult. The next game Squabble, is Wordle but in a battle royale mode, where you play six other fellow players online and the fastest to reach the answer wins.
Numbers instead of words
One of the most popular forks of Wordle is Nerdle, a puzzle with numbers where you find suitable solutions that are based on basic arithmetical functions. An extremely challenging game, Nerdle has received considerable popularity and a stylish new visual overhaul. However, I have found that the limit in the size of the possible solution makes triple digit numbers impossible and limits possibilities at times. Nerdle though does its bit to extend the Wordle magic to beyond word lovers.
Places and Music
The last two on this list are Worldle and Herdle, the former taps into a player’s understanding of geography as they are expected to identify a place with the help of the map. Every guess tells you how far you are both in terms of letters and in terms of locational co-ordinates. While, Herdle brings music into the format by using songs from SoundCloud and playing their opening sequences in 1-second bits. Players are supposed to guess the song and the artist by either identifying them in the first second or by skipping a turn for every additional second to identify the song.
So, here we are with the many forms of Wordle. If our Twitter timelines are any indicator this is a phenomenon that is likely to stay, so why not embrace it to the fullest and give these games a try? I am sure there will be a few more versions in the days to come.
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