This is not Scrabble 2.0. It is not a new kind of Tetris either. These blocks of gray, yellow and green tiles that your contacts share on social networks are Wordle. They are causing a sensation in the English-speaking webosphere… and are preparing to conquer the French-speaking web.
It must be said that this not-quite-crossword puzzle makes a good remedy against the hyperanxiety of the moment. In a news passed in second gear at the beginning of the year, amplified by the fire hose that are the social media, Wordle detonates. On the program: a grid five squares wide by six high. Each line represents an attempt to uncover the final hidden word. The color code lets you know which letters are in that word and which are in the right place.
Board game enthusiasts who remember the Mastermind game will recognize themselves here. The only difference: the colors replace the pins in the role of the indices. After six attempts, if the player hasn’t discovered the word, Wordle reveals it to them, then that’s it. Better luck next time, the next day. In the meantime, the site offers players to share on social networks a snapshot of the game just finished from which the letters are excluded. Only the boxes and colors are displayed.
The phenomenon, at the beginning intriguing, quickly seduced Internet users. “I love the simplicity, the fact that it is possible for almost everyone to be successful, but especially the fact that the experience is only a few minutes a day. No danger of being sucked in and wasting too much time. », Explains Alexandre Gravel, producer of the web and television content creation agency Toast Studio.
“I discovered it when I saw player shares on Twitter,” explains Sylvain Benoît, a programmer from Sherbrooke who was intrigued enough by this phenomenon to then get started on a daily basis. “It’s a concept as old as the world. I remember there were similar games on Videoway when I was a kid. But it is fun to train your logic with the clues and to test our vocabulary. “
Created last October to entertain his better half by programmer Josh Wardle, Wordle – the name of the game is inspired by his last name – had 300,000 active players at the start of the week… daily, of course. Since Wordle only offers one new mystery word per day on the website dedicated to this game. It’s simple and without fla-fla. No ads, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no top player charts, no other business irritants.
In short, it’s a relaxing break in a crazy world. And it went viral. From New York Times to Guardian, the English-speaking media have promoted the phenomenon. Even the New Yorker made it the subject of a caricature of the day, that doesn’t lie. And in recent days, we have seen the emergence of versions in French, Portuguese and even Gaelic, why not. Paid imitations of the game have even appeared on mobile app stores, but the original will remain free, its creator swears.
Josh Wardle persists and signs: Wordle will not change the formula. No question of accelerating the pace beyond one word a day, nor of deriving a formula that would allow him to make money. Just last week, the programmer employed by the popular online forum Reddit assured in yet another interview with New York Times that he has no intention of monetizing his baby, as we say in the jargon.
“He’s not trying to do anything with your data or your attention time,” he told the New York publication. “It’s just a game that’s fun. “
From Wordle to Motdle
Renaud Bédard is working on a Quebec version of Wordle, called Motdle. The Montreal video game programmer, currently employed by Japanese publisher Square Enix, heard about this little puzzle online during the holiday season and was instantly won over.
“I started playing it then. It has really grown in popularity since then. On Twitter, either people are talking about their Wordle of the day or they are complaining that the world is talking too much about Wordle, ”he says. “We have to admit that this is one of the best-built and easiest games of its kind that I’ve seen in a long time. “
The video game pro explains Wordle’s success simply: the experience and concept are extremely clear, the rules can be learned in seconds, and having access to a new puzzle every day is effective. “Everyone has the impression of working together on the word of the day, it creates discussions and a spirit of competition between the players”, he notes.
Creating a Quebec version of it went without saying for the one who collaborated in the creation of Fez, an online game initially published in 2012 and which had a decidedly retro feel. “My version isn’t much special, but it’s mine and I plan to finish it anyway. I don’t have a planned release date, I’m working on it on time. “
For those interested, the project code is available on Renaud Bédard’s GitHub account at https://github.com/renaudbedard/wordle-fr.