Have you heard of the popular and trending game Wordle?

If you don’t already know what this is, Wordle is a web-based game, which was developed by Josh Wardle in October 2021. It can be played for free on the New York Times, one time per day. The game is easy to understand, one reason why it’s so appealing. Each day, there is a five-letter word for players to guess. Players have six tries to guess it, and with each guess, the letters can show up as:

• Gray: this letter is not in the word
• Yellow: this letter is in the word, but it’s not in the right spot right now
• Green: this letter is in the word, and in the right spot

Since then, it’s grown to popularity with as many as 2 million players in a week. 

In case one gets bored of Wordle, fear not, for there are alternatives. 

For those who love geography, Worldle and Globle may be the perfect game for you. 

In Worldle, players are given a silhouette of a country. Based on the shape, players try to guess the country. After each guess, information given to the player includes the distance, direction, and proximity from the mystery country. 

As for Globle, players are shown a globe of the world, with the seven continents. You can type in any country, and depending on how “hot” or “cold” it is to the mystery country, it will be shaded in. The redder it gets, the closer you are (distance-wise), to the mystery country. There are no limits to the number of guesses you get. 

Finally, perhaps the most challenging of them all is Quordle. Quordle players are presented with four separate Wordles on one screen, each with different words to guess. Players get 9 guesses total, and each guess applies to all four Wordles. The goal is to guess all four words before running out of guesses. 

“I was first introduced to Wordle from an ad on Instagram, and my friends told me about it,” said Arcadia High School (AHS) freshman Arion Togelang. “It’s engaging to use your logic to piece out possible words. I play daily.” 

“I’ve played them all before, and sometimes it can be infuriating,” admitted AHS freshman Swarit Srivastava. “But, there’s nothing like that feeling of seeing every letter turn green.” 

As for Worldle and Globle, Srivastava’s history teacher, Ms. Purcey, introduced it to him. 

If you ever have some time to kill and want to try challenging yourself, make sure to visit one of these websites. The best part is the feeling of accomplishment after successfully completing a puzzle. 

Photo courtesy of Brett Zeck