The New York Times recently purchased the daily world game.
Allow us to introduce you to the internet's latest obsession: Wordle. It's a daily word game you play online, and it's taken over our social media feeds. Do you know those posts featuring yellow, green, and gray boxes? Yep, that's Wordle.
The word game is only playable once a day, with the goal being to solve the word of the day. The rules are:
Courtesy of Wordle
Players get six tries to answer the five-letter word correctly. As seen in the rules above, if you have a letter in the correct spot, it turns green. If it's a correct letter but ends up in the wrong spot, it's yellow. Incorrect letter, it turns gray. By using these hints throughout your six tries, you try to guess the daily word with as few tries as possible.
The popular game averages 300,000 people per day, so no wonder The New York Times purchased it!
Wordle was purchased for an undisclosed price in the "low-seven figures," says The Times. Wordle was bought with the intention of using it as part of the suite of puzzles, such as The Crossword, The Mini, and Spelling Bee.
"The Times remains focused on becoming the essential subscription for every English-speaking person seeking to understand and engage with the world. New York Times Games are a key part of that strategy," according to a statement. "Wordle will now play a part in that daily experience, giving millions more people around the world another reason to turn to The Times to meet their daily news and life needs."
The creator, Josh Wardle, posted about the news on social media:
An update on Wordle pic.twitter.com/TmHd0AIRLX
— Josh Wardle (@powerlanguish) January 31, 2022
However, Wordle fans are not so happy about this recent purchase by The Times. In fact, many are worried the free game will be put behind a paywall in the future.
NYT buying Wordle is the puzzle equivalent of an out-of-touch politician instantly killing the appeal of a pop culture thing.
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) January 31, 2022
I think part of what I love(d?) so much about Wordle was that it was nice to remember a version of the internet that was not so married to advertising / selling me something / attaching itself to some larger corporate interest. Haha... anyway.... congrats to the Wordle Man.
— Emma Baccellieri (@emmabaccellieri) January 31, 2022
The NYT paywall will be known as the Wordle hurdle
— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) February 1, 2022
Have you played Wordle? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.