Why Wordle?

Quick post for a quick game: Wordle

In the middle of a worldwide pandemic, this strange phenomenon has captured our attention.  If you're among the last to learn what the yellow and green graphic is all about, then you may just be in for a treat.  Wordle is a simple, quick, but complex little puzzle.  I think its popularity and success is due to exactly that: the blend of simplicity, speed, and complexity.

It takes a minute to learn, a few minutes to play, and you get only one!  At its simplest, it's hangman + Mastermind.  You have to solve a five letter mystery word by guessing letter, and your only help is instant feedback indicating correct letter or correct letter and place.

If you've read my blog, you already know my affinity for classic logic/strategy board games in the classroom, particularly those the employ computational thinking strategies. Games that require sequence, strategy, logical reasoning, or algorithmic thinking add context for students’ understanding of computational thinking beyond coding tasks.  Exploring and identifying how parts of a system, game, or program, relate, connect, and combine build foundational concepts for later computational thinking construction. The thinking skills that make Wordle challenging and fun intersect with CT in the same way as solitaire puzzles, Mastermind, or peg-board games.  Worlde is a funny combination of logic, pattern strategy with a vocab twist!

It's a curious strategy to only provide one puzzle per day, and perhaps some paid platform will emerge, but it's refreshing to complete (or not) one short puzzle and carry on with the rest of the day. There's no rabbit hole.

In terms of its popularity, I can't remember a simpler and more contagious digital game.  I'm not sure where I land on everyone sharing their results.  Is it obnoxious? I don't think so.  It's informative and  impermanent, and if I solved a puzzle in 2 or three steps, I'd probably shout about it, too. It's a fun and fleeting phenomenon, but I will admit to being impressed and curious at seeing how well others across social media tackled a particular puzzle.

The shared results are also interesting, as anyone who has played the game can instantly decode each others' game-play in a simple, single icon.  If you see their chart, you know their process.  In fact, I've found myself looking at others' early attempts at guessing the word to try to figure out their guesses.  Anyone else?  Maybe this is a clever classroom idea to try...

As an educator, I see immediate applications, and I imagine kicking off lessons with today's Wordle, designing Wordle races, or creating lessons for students to design their own wordle challenges for each other.  

What will you come up with?