by Isobel Geddes
From its launch in October 2021 to its takeover by the New York Times, Wordle has quickly become a hot topic across all age ranges. It is a very simple game in which players have six moves to guess a five-letter word, with a new Wordle being released daily. After each guess, the game reveals which letters are incorrect (highlighted in grey), which letters are correct but wrongly placed (highlighted in yellow), and which letters are correctly placed (highlighted in green). With each daily correct guess comes an extra point to your streak and fans have often been seen to share their streak online.
It began when founder Josh Wardle decided to create a game for his partner, similar to the popular TV show Lingo in the 80s. The idea soon took off and Wordle rapidly gained fame and popularity, rising from 300,000 players on January 2, 2022, to 2 million just a week later. It wasn't long before multiple spin-off versions of the game were released, including Nerdle, a mathematical version, and Quordle, a version in which users have to simultaneously guess four words. Nevertheless, the original Wordle stands triumphantly at the top. So what is it that makes this 5 letter guessing game so popular?
It may be that the psychology behind the game is what makes it so addictive. Multiple studies have shown that we have a tendency to overestimate our abilities, in an effort to be in the top few, in any category. For instance, according to Psychology Today, 93% of drivers believe their driving to be better than average. Seeing as the daily Wordle is universal and a shared challenge by all users, this allows for easy comparison amongst peers. The ability to share our result with the click of one simple button ultimately brings an instant validation each time that we succeed in getting the Wordle in fewer guesses than those around us. But what if we take more guesses than others? The belief that we are in the top percentile is contradicted, so the only option is to return the next day to prove that we can be better, and that actually the previous result was simply an anomaly. Consequently, whether we perform better or worse, there is only one outcome: return the next day and continue the streak. Thus, whilst it seems that we are addicted to Wordle for fairly harmless reasons, it may actually be that the addiction is fuelled by hidden insecurities.
Meanwhile, other psychologists suggest that there is one other crucial aspect when it comes to Wordle: the limit to only one game a day. This design feeds on what is known as the scarcity principle and avoids the variable reward system. In fact, Josh Wardle suggests that it is this particular factor that led to Wordle’s breakthrough, having previously attempted a similar design in 2013 that failed to take off. There is no possibility of ‘over-indulgence’ that leads to boredom, and we feel that the game doesn't demand either time or attention, yet it is still challenging enough to be deemed rewarding. With each guess further insight and understanding is revealed, which releases dopamine in an “Aha!” moment. Lee Chambers, a British psychologist, argues that Wordle activates both the logic and language areas of our brain. The dopamine reward from the challenge, however hard it may be, is a blissful experience that leaves us wanting more. At the same time, the game’s simplicity prevents users from being deterred and thus an addiction is born.
Finally, Wordle’s popularity is in part due to the power of social media. When Josh Wardle saw that people were physically typing out their results with emojis, he programmed the game to do it automatically, which ultimately made it quicker and easier to share scores. The simple coloured graph packs a lot of information that is easily understood. In fact, Wardle stated that he considered leaving a link to play the game underneath the graph, but concluded that this detracts from the simplicity and could actually have more of a negative impact than a positive one on its popularity. It may just be that Wordle got lucky and managed to ride the social media wave that so many other games fall off of. Of course, if everyone around you is playing the game, you don’t want to be the one that is missing out.
Nonetheless, from a simple game designed for his partner, to a worldwide game sold to New York times for a seven figure value, there is no denying that Josh Wardle seems to have nailed it with his creation.
Links to other popular Wordle versions:
Nerdle: https://nerdlegame.com/
Le mot (French): https://wordle.louan.me/
Spanish Wordle: https://wordle.danielfrg.com/
German Wordle: https://wordlegame.org/de
Quordle: https://www.quordle.com/#/
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