I wake up in the morning thinking of 5 – letter words. As we roll out of bed, my husband says, “I’ve got the perfect word to start with,” I assure him that I do too, and the two of us head immediately to our phones. Soon, pings are filling the bedroom, alerting us to our fellow game players who are checking in. “Got it in 5…got it in 3…” Then there is the occasional, “I didn’t get it today” accompanied by a very sad emoji – this portends what will probably be a very bad day.
I speak of course, of “Wordle”, which, unless you are living in a cave, you have not only heard of, but you have tried it, and you are therefore playing daily … unless you have outright rejected it, which honestly almost never happens.
Wordle has become a joyful part of my day.
I won’t take up the space to explain Wordle. Just click here and see for yourself. You’ll soon discover the joys yourself. Here’s my take:
First, Wordle really seems to be an equal opportunity game. I really have never met anyone who is really good or really bad at Wordle all the time. It seems to rely on luck, that is, choosing the lucky first word, as well as patience and skill. Everyone has up days and down days. I admit, some of us routinely have more “6-letter days” than “3-letter days”, but one never knows exactly when those five green letters will roll on to our screen, and we can proclaim victory. And man, those 5 green letters spell pure joy, don’t they?
Second, Wordle has given us a new way to connect. Finally, in the midst of all this quarantine business, we have something that we can all do together. My morning texts let me know that my friends are alive, and, well, playing Wordle with me. Adding a little extra note about last night’s episode of “This is Us” might be an added bit of connection, but it isn’t always necessary.
Because Wordle is not purely a skills-based game, and because we are all playing the same game on the same day, there is truly a sense of community. We are happy, well we try to be happy, for the other person when they get it in 2 or 3. We are indeed sad when the other person never gets the word. And mostly we are just so excited to share how we did that day! One of my sisters, who can make a competition out of who can peel their morning grapefruit fastest, attempted to put a competitive spin on it, by chastising herself for “getting it in 5”. Whatever. My other sister (and fellow player) and I put the kibosh on that idea. We players report in, we do not make judgements about our own Wordle accomplishment or that of others. We are here to have fun, and yes, to celebrate when we have a really good day. (OK, sometimes we put our really good day on Facebook – and yes, the accolades do feel good. But we try not to make a habit of that sort of thing).
Finally, unlike other addictive games like “Words with Friends” or “Candy Crunch”, Wordle has a built-in addiction blocker: it only posts one word a day. You do it, and you’re done. No more “just one more try”. Nope, you’re done, and then you move on with your day.
Yes, Wordle brings me joy. I can hardly wait to wake up tomorrow morning and start all over again. START. Hmmm…would that be a good first word?