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The New York Times buys the viral word game Wordle

By February 1, 2022Sports games

The New York Times announced on Monday that it has acquired Wordle, the free online word game that has exploded in popularity and, for some, has become a daily obsession.

He said the purchase price was in the “lower seven figures”, but did not disclose details.

The Times, which features popular word games like Spelling Bee and its crossword puzzles, said “when it transitions to The New York Times, Wordle will be free to play for new and existing players, and no changes will be made. brought to its gameplay.” Wordle was created by Josh Wardle, a software engineer from Brooklyn. He originally did it for his partner, but went public in October. On November 1, only 90 people had played there. Within two months, that number jumped to 300,000 after people started sharing their scores on social media. Now the simple puzzle that lets players guess a five-letter word in six tries with no hints has millions of daily players, The Times said. It’s also become a viral phenomenon online, spurring imitators like “Airportle”, where you guess airport abbreviations, and “Queertle”, with words for the queer community. To play Wordle now, you need to visit its website. Just type a five-letter word. If any letters turn green, you have the right letter in the right place. Yellow letters mean the correct letter in the wrong place and gray letters mean they are not in the word of the day. Part of Wordle’s appeal is due to its simplicity, with no bells and whistles or ads or asking for your email address to play – just a website with 30 empty boxes and a keyboard. Some apps have tried to build on its success, confusing people who have downloaded – or even paid for – apps on their phones into thinking it’s the original Wordle.

(This story has not been edited by the Devdiscourse team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)