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+---
+title: "Why Wordle is so successful"
+date: 2022-02-14T12:00:00+01:00
+tags: [web]
+---
+
+The game [Wordle](https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html) exploded in
+popularity recently, to the point that it was [bought by the New York
+Times](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60208463) because of its popularity.
+But why is Wordle such a resounding success? I will take a swing at an
+explanation in this post.
+
+# Simple rules with a clever twist
+
+Wordle is a modified variant of the board game
+[Mastermind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game)). In
+Mastermind, in which one player constructs a *code word* consisting of four
+colored pegs, while the other player's objective is to determine said code word
+in a limited number of tries. Any combination of pegs is admissible, making it
+mostly a game of deduction[^1].
+
+The cleverness of Wordle is the fact that, instead of colored pegs, the game
+uses the letters A through Z and a restricted set of admissible code words[^2].
+Instead of requiring the player to reason about code words in abstract terms,
+five-letter English words are much more familiar to the player. This gives
+Wordle a tangibility that Mastermind cannot quite achieve.
+
+# Perfect game length
+
+Another important factor to Wordle's success lies in its format: a single Wordle
+can be played per day, and everybody guesses the same code word. Playing a round
+of Wordle takes a few minutes at most, and can be played anywhere: in bed after
+waking up, on the way to work, during a work break or in the evening to relax.
+There is no endless optimization or retrying for a better score. Once a game is
+done it is done, and the next game can only be played the next morning. This
+prevents people from burning out on Wordle after playing too much, and leaves us
+excited for the next day's Wordle.
+
+# Casual and competitive, with just the right amount of luck
+
+Wordle has two competitive aspects: correctly guessing the word, and doing it in
+fewer guesses than your friends and family. I wager most English-speaking people
+can guess almost every code word in the alotted six tries, but it isn't a
+trivial task: finding a good guess feels very rewarding. With sufficient skill
+the game's code word choice is insignificant, thus ensuring that good players
+don't feel punished by unfair word choices[^3].
+
+Competing with other players is very simple: the player to guess the word in
+fewer tries wins, and if both players require the same amount of tries, a draw
+is declared. This competition is interesting in the sense that it is possible to
+avoid bad scores with sufficient skill, but a player's initial guess plays an
+important role in a day's score: there is a fair amount of random chance and/or
+luck involved in getting very good scores. Thus, it is impossible for a player
+to consistently dominate the game. I would describe Wordle as similar to Mario
+Kart in this instance: in Mario Kart, skill is an important factor to not lose,
+but in the end it comes down to luck and chance who places first.
+
+# The perfect package
+
+Wordle has it all: a solid foundation, the perfect length to keep up engagement
+over a longer time frame, both for casual and more competitive gamers. Coupled
+with a very clean user interface and a satisfying guess revelation animation it
+is not surprising that it has become as successful as it has. It is an instant
+classic, on par with other puzzle-type games such as crosswords and sudokus.
+
+I've spent some time thinking about which other games I can think of that fit in
+the above category, but I could not come up with a comparable game. There's
+always something odd to it such that doesn't quite measure up to Wordle. If you
+have an idea, [let me know](https://mastodon.3fx.ch/@bfiedler)!
+
+[^1]: It has been shown that the classic Mastermind [can always be solved in
+ five
+ tries](https://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/teaching/cs3530/resources/knuth-mastermind.pdf).
+[^2]: The full list of admissible guesses and possible code words is directly
+ exposed in the [game's JavaScript
+ code](https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/main.bd4cb59c.js).
+[^3]: The only way to ensure that every word is fair is by hand-picking the
+ entire word list.