Amassing over hundreds of thousands of players, a five letter word game has become an internet sensation in the span of only a few weeks. The game is simple: players have six tries to guess a five letter word without a single clue. The game can only be played once a day, keeping players hooked while awaiting the next round.

With each guess, the game gives hints regarding the placement of words: . dark gray squares mean that the letter is not in the word at all, Yellow squares mean that the letter is in the word but not in the right spot. and green squares mean that it is the correct letter in the correct spot. The game even has a “hard mode” which means that the player has to incorporate the letters they have already gotten into their next guess. The game has become so serious for some that there have been created several strategies such as utilizing words like “arose” or “adieu” to achieve the least amount of guesses.

The game was created by Josh Wardle Released in Oct. 2021 for his partner Palak Shah, Josh Wardle was inspired to create Wordle during the pandemic from consistently playing word games and board games. Not only does Wordle refresh vocabulary, but the educational game has becomesocial phenomenon. The question “Have you completed today’s wordle?” has united individuals globally, bringing people together by sharing accomplishments or mistakes across social media. Twitter has even gone to the extent of banning users who spoil the word of the day. For Wordle addicts, there is the Wordle Archive that has playable versions of all of the previous Wordle words.

“It’s a game that has moderation which makes it addicting and also amazing. It makes me feel like I have good time management since I organize my day around Worlde” sophomore Alessandro Moran said.

Its popularity has even led to the site’s purchase by the New York Times has bought the game for a low seven figures. Many fans are concerned about the purchasedue to the Times’reputation of putting paywalls on their services, though they stated they will continue to keep it free to play and leave the gameplay the same.