Wordle creator describes game’s rise, says NYT sale was “a way to walk away”

Josh Wardle, the creator of the game Wordle, holds a world record for the fastest sale of a game.

His presentation at the Game Developers Conference has a different flair than dissection of a finished game. The low seven figures deal that he sold the whole thing to The New York Times at the end of January is one of the many topics he has to discuss. Wardle seems aware of the question of why would you move on just as the game took off, as well as questions about how Wordle was born.

It is necessary to appreciate that the Times had been in Wardle's mind before Wordle joined its family.

“The best co-op gaming experiences”

The New York Times was actually a really good buyer for the game, Wardle says while standing at a GDC podium in modest dress, with thick glasses covering his face. The origin of Wordle can be traced back to their games. They treat their players with respect. I don't think they will cover the game in ads.

Wardle emphasizes in the talk that he is not concerned about how the Times handles Wordle from here on out. There was a matter of building it before he parted ways with Wordle.

In his case, this means the daily, meditative play he and his partner shared at the beginning of 2021, pens primed over the New York Times. It teaches you something about the other person.

Wardle warned the crowd that he would be getting a bit of an arts degree, as he pointed to a quote from Terry Eagleton. You do not have to teach them about words.

Wordle’s mastermind talks about Mastermind

After explaining how Wordle works, Wardle compares his game to the 1980s board game, which has been compared to Wordle by many avid gaming fans.

He asked the crowd if they were guessing words instead of colored sequence. Wardle realized something wasn't right when he dumped a massive list of every possible five-letter word into the app's random-word pool.

It turns out that these are all valid five-letter words, Wardle says, drawing a laugh from the crowd. When players encounter a word they have never heard of or used in common speech, they are left with little rational means of guessing what the next letter might be, even as grays, greens, and yellow. Early players couldn't determine how those letters would connect to each other. The result was the same as Mastermind. Wardle did not want that.

What you can tease out from Wordle is based on what you know about language.