If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.
Wordle is celebrating a major milestone, as the popular online word-guessing game from the New York Times recently released its 1000th puzzle. As part of the #Wordle1000 celebrations, the newspaper released a list of the five hardest Wordles to solve, sharing both the puzzle number and players’ success rate.
The web-based guessing game has taken the world by storm since launching in October 2021. Created by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle, it was later sold to the New York Times for a price in the “low seven figures” in early 2022.
Now, Wordle is available to play off-line as well, with a number of Wordle books and even a Wordle board game.
Hasbro, maker of popular games like Monopoly and Clue, have introduced Wordle: The Party Game. Inspired by the digital version of the guessing game, the board game plays like a cross between Scrabble and Hangman, with players taking turns to guess the “secret word” in less than six tries.
Amazon
First released for the holiday season last fall, the Wordle board game has been re-stocked online with new pricing, bringing it under $20.
This new version of Wordle is designed for 2-4 players with a recommended age of 14 and up. Each player takes a turn as “host” to write down the “secret word.” It’s then up to the other players to guess. The included dry-erase boards let players jot down their guesses, while the “host” uses green and yellow tiles to let people know whether they’ve matched any letters.
Scoring is a little reversed: the fewer tries it takes a player to guess the word, the fewer points they score. The player with the fewest points at the end of the game wins.
While the web-based Wordle is designed for solo play, this physical version lets you play with up to three other people. And while the New York Times only releases one Wordle puzzle a day, the board game’s included dry-erase boards and markers let you play as many rounds as you want.
The Wordle board game is an officially-licensed collaboration between the New York Times and Hasbro. It’s quickly become one of the most popular party games online too, with a 4.4-star rating (out of five) from more than a thousand online reviews.
For more Wordle gameplay, publisher Ivy Press has released Wordle Challenge, a book featuring 500 puzzles graded from “Easy” to “Expert.” While each line reveals itself as you enter guesses on your phone, the puzzles in this book are pre-shaded, to help you get started. A grey background means the letter is in the wrong position; a white background means the letter is not in the final word. A black background, meantime, shows the letter in the correct position.
Amazon
This Wordle puzzle book has a 4.3-star rating from hundreds of reviewers. In addition to being a good pickup for your daily commute, this Wordle book makes a great gift for parents, new grads, housewarmings or just for your next get together. See full details here.