There was a time when the biggest thing on the internet was deciphering the word of the day on Wordle. From 2021 to 2022, the most popular game worldwide was the online daily word puzzle game Wordle. This game was played on a 5X6 grid, where players had 6 chances to guess the daily 5-letter word. It used color-coded tiles in green, yellow, and grey to indicate the accuracy of players’ guesses. Green indicated the letter was correct in the right spot; yellow indicated the letter was somewhere in the word, but not in the correct place; and grey indicated there was no attempt or the letter choice was entirely incorrect. The game provides a keyboard at the bottom of the screen, with every letter and a backspace button.
This game’s original intent and creation were quite sweet; the developer, Josh Wardle, is a software engineer in Brooklyn, NY, who wanted to make a game for his partner, who loved word games during the pandemic. The game was created for the two of them to play. “Wardle, 43, created the puzzle game, originally called “Mr Bugs’ Wordy Nugz” in 2020 to entertain himself and girlfriend Palak Shah during the pandemic.” He then named the game after a spin on his last name. The game was later exposed to his relatives after months of playing together. They gave him the idea to expose his idea and creation to the public. Wordle was then released to the public in October. Over the two months, the game reached over 300,000 players. Now, as of 2025, there are approximately 4,052,752 active players on Wordle daily, according to udonis. The game seems to be going steady, as it remains popular with players.
What’s Next?
Wordle could be considered as “one of the most popular word games of our time,” according to The New Yorker. With the steady popularity of the game, Wardle has just recently released a new and more difficult puzzle game.
Since selling the game to The New York Times for more than a million dollars in 2022. Wardle told The
Sunday Times: “I haven’t played since the day I sold it.” Wardle began experimenting with what to turn his attention to after the success of his online puzzle game, turning to childhood nostalgia, though he found them entirely confusing. This puzzle sparked the new game he has developed.
What is Parseword?
Password is a new spin on cryptic crossword puzzles. Cryptic crosswords are, according to The Wall Street Journal:
“The clues each have two parts. One part is a normal definition of the answer; the other is an additional hint using wordplay.” & “The challenge and fun of a cryptic puzzle is to see through the puzzle writer’s deceptions, to tease out the definition by rethinking the clue’s wording.”
This game has “a format built on synonyms, reversals, homophones, letter deletions and hidden fragments.” His objective for the game was to give the game a digital makeover. The Guardian quotes from Wardle that
“‘Cryptic crosswords have been around for a long time, but they require an immense amount of work upfront before a new player can even begin to solve them.’”
This game is still an attempt to be a “chin scratcher,” according to Wardle; however, it has been remodeled so users understand it differently than its intended purpose. With time, we’ll see whether this game rises in popularity, similar to his game.
