John Sturgis

Why Wordle won’t last

  • From Spectator Life
Image: Getty

My name is John Sturgis and I am a Wordle addict. It’s not quite heroin or crack cocaine but it did have me hooked within minutes of trying it. And I have been chasing the high that those first hits gave me ever since.

Or at least, I was a Wordle addict. Just two weeks ago I was confidently predicting that this was a hobby that I would keep up on a daily basis until I went to the grave. I was completely sold. Today that seems a much less likely scenario.

I hear of people who find it so easy they are now attempting it in French or Spanish

Wordle was invented by a British geek, Josh Wardle, working in the US tech sector, the game’s name a wordplay, natch, on his surname. He launched it for family and friends last summer and went public in the autumn.In those distant days of three months ago he had under 100 daily players, according to backstory legend. By this week that had grown to an unspecified number of millions around the world; most, like me, coming back every day for more. The game relies on guessing a mystery five letter word within six attempts, using a clue system apparently adapted from the widely popular Mastermind board game of the seventies and eighties – a green square for the right letter in right place, yellow for the right letter in the wrong place, grey for no luck at all. 

If it sounds very basic, it is. Grand Theft Auto this is not: there are no car crashes or explosions; the most explosive moment possible is the surprise appearance of five green squares. And its charm is bound up in its simplicity. There’s only one game each day so you can’t binge play it.

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