Wordle; The New Craze – Toby C
Most of you are addicted. No this isn’t an article about vaping, but something much more consuming. I am talking about Wordle. This craze has swept across the world in the last couple of weeks with thousands joining the cult every day.
The game has a simple premise; guess the 5-letter word of the day. Everyone gets the same word to guess, and they only get it once a day. You guess the word by using other 5 letter words to see what letters are in the word of the day, a little bit like hangman. It doesn’t sound as exciting when I write it like that but honestly, like the millions of wordelers out there, it is the highlight of my day.
I remember my first ever wordle. Mr. Vickers got me hooked while he was on duty in Collingwood. It was a throwaway suggestion that has changed my life forever. I spent 15 minutes that night trying to guess the word in as little goes as possible, and when I got it right, I had a rush that I have been chasing ever since. Genuinely it is one of the most rewarding games because every day you get the chance to rub it in your friends faces when you guess the word in two or three goes, but more importantly the dopamine release is unmatched when you finally puzzle out the answer.
Luckily for us, the creator of the game understood how addictive this game was, and so limited us to only one wordle a day. In a way it makes it more special, because only once a day can you get the much-needed hit of dopamine, meaning its effects don’t dwindle from overuse of the game. That being said, I do know some very sad people who wait up till midnight to do the new wordle of the day, (definitely not me…)!
However, the game comes with some caveats, the first being that if someone tells you the wordle of the day it crushes you. A lot of you will resonate with this feeling, I am sure. It means that you must wait till midnight the next day to do another one, and that just isn’t fair, so the number one rule about the game is never reveal the wordle of the day to someone else, unless you want to lose your friends left right and centre!
This game has become such a craze, that during break one day whilst I was listening to BBC radio 2, (best station ever!), Claudia Winkelman (the Head and Shoulders sell-out), was talking about her addiction to the game, and they had listeners phone in to talk about why they love it so much. Anyway, Richard Osman (famous clever guy with glasses) phones in and gives some cool facts about the addictive game. It turns out that you have a 1/526 chance of getting the word on your first try, as for the moment, Wordles are only the most common 5 letter words so you won’t get anything too obscure (making the game accessible to all!) so the chances of getting the word first go are pretty small, so Osman’s tip was to start of with a good word to cover your bases later on. He suggested the word “aline” as it has 3 vowels and an e in a very good place, so if you’re a competitive wordler this is a good place to start.
Reading over this article I realize how incredibly sad my life is, and I am sure you must be thinking the same thing. However, go and try a wordle, and then you will see what I am talking about. If that doesn’t work, have a listen to BBC Radio 2, it’s not quite Wordle, but it’s the next best thing!
Post Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.