The origins of Wordle weren’t promising, as the game began with a mere 90 daily players. However, this humble beginning would soon become a viral success.

Josh Wardle first developed and published Wordle for the public in October, 2021. The game was not meant to be released to the public, as he created it solely for himself and his wife. Once he released it to his relatives, their response encouraged Wardle to release it to the world. Upon selling the game to The New York Times, subscribers jumped from 90 to more than 300,000 players daily.

The objective of Wordle is to solve a five-letter word within six attempts. Upon submitting a guess, letters are color-coded based on three factors. If a letter is gray, it is not part of the mystery word. If a letter is yellow, the letter is in the word but not in the right position. If a letter is green, the letter is in the right spot and is in the word. 

Wordle is limited to 2,315 different answers, with a new word each day. In order to correctly identify the chosen word, students at DCIS use various strategies. 

“I usually start with ‘about’ because it has three vowels, so you can get a lot out of the word,” said 7th grader, Kassy R. 

Players start with different five-letter words because of the letters each word possesses. Words with multiple vowels can identify the position of the letters, while words with uncommon letters such as ‘z’ and ‘x’ do not help the player.

The New York Times has capitalized from the game by attracting new players to the game – and its news website – every day. The simple format of Wordle has been an inexpensive, yet lucrative, addition to the Times. Popular social media apps like Youtube and TikTok have featured Wordle in numerous videos drawing thousands of additional players and potential customers to the news site. 

“I found [Wordle] on TikTok. [The game] made me interested because I wanted to see if I could solve the word myself and not get any hints from the users,” Kassy said. 

Wordle can only be played once a day, building a sense of intrigue and enthusiasm for returning players. Every day, they get one shot to solve the Wordle, creating suspense out of a simple black and white word game.

“I finish the game in about 5-15 minutes, which really [makes a difference] in how the game brands itself, because I can complete it in one sitting, instead of focusing on it constantly,” said 7th grader, Angelina T.

Wordle is unique in that players are able to spend a small portion of their day discovering the mystery word, in contrast to different New York Times games like Crossword or typical cames on iPhones like Clash Royale. 

“Wordle can only be played once, [which helps] because it motivates players to try and get the correct word. A lot of players, especially those who enjoy suspense, will be attracted to the concept of the game,” Angelina said.