The Best Wordle-Like Games
By Gabe Korngold ‘23
From Wordle Website
In the past few weeks, Wordle has taken the world by storm. Initially released in October, 2021, the online puzzle game skyrocketed after its release from 90 daily players a month to several million today.
For those of you who are somehow unfamiliar with the sensation that is Wordle, every day, a new five-letter word is generated and players have six guesses to determine what it is. The catch is that all guesses also have to be five letter words, and after every guess, players can see which letters are in the correct place (shown in green), which letters are included in the word but in the wrong place (shown in yellow), and which letters are not in the word.
Wordle’s simple guess-and-check template has caught on with its millions of users and has also influenced the rise of other guessing games on the internet, all of which end in the suffix -le. Here are some of our favorite Wordle-inspired games.
From Worldle Website
Like Wordle, Worldle tasks its players with guessing a country based on its outlined shape. These nations may be as instantly recognizable as the United States or small island nations such as Nauru.
Similarly to its namesake, Worldle offers players six guesses to determine the correct answer. Where it differs, however, are the methods of guessing and the types of hints that are provided. Players have to guess a country, and after each attempt, the distance and relative direction to the correct answer is revealed.
From Heardle Website
Heardle, similarly to Wordle and Worldle, gives players six chances to guess the correct answer, however, what the player aims to guess is a song.
Players initially have access to a one second snippet of the song in question, and can enter their guess from a list of songs provided by the site’s search feature. If they guess incorrectly or choose to skip, another cumulative second of the song can be heard. By the sixth guess, 30 seconds of the song are accessible.
While Heardle is just as fun as any other -le game, it is important to keep in mind that your taste in music may not include the songs that appear in the game. This means you should expect Heardle to be more difficult than other -le games.
From Quordle Website
Like in Wordle, Quordle players are tasked with deciphering a unique five letter word. Except, in this game, the player must decipher four words at the same time, and each guess applies to all four.
This elevates the original Wordle template to a new level of difficulty. To compensate, however, players get nine guesses instead of six.
Wordle Unlimited is practically identical to Wordle, albeit without the daily challenge dynamic. This means that eager Wordle players disappointed with the long waits between words can still play the same puzzle game as frequently as they like.
Self-Made Wordles
Wordle can also be played by two people using self-generated words. Players can guess each other's words using a variety of media.
Nadya Poisac-Nguyen, a junior at the Catlin Gabel School, explains how she makes and plays Wordles with her friends. “I come up with a word and have someone guess the letters. If it’s on paper, I box the letters in the wrong place and circle the ones in the right place, but if I’m doing it over text, I use the green, yellow, and black colored emojis.”
There are likely hundreds of -le games across the internet, each bringing a new, creative interpretation to the original Wordle template. Wordle has certainly proven that video games need not be complex to be enjoyable.
It is no wonder why so many similar games have appeared in recent weeks.
That said, is Wordle just a moment, or will it influence how games are made and played in the future? Time will only tell.