Challenge your knowledge of the Filipino language with 'Saltong,' a Pinoy version of Wordle
Can't get enough of guessing the word of the day on Wordle? There's actually a Pinoy version of the viral word game called Saltong that you can play to test out your knowledge of the Filipino language.
Like Wordle, Saltong is free to play on any web browser. It differs from Josh Wardle's version though since there's four different game modes—the regular Saltong, Saltong Mini, Saltong Max, and Saltong Hex—which let you guess four-, five-, or seven-letter words.
This Pinoy iteration of the word game was created by software engineer Carl de Guia who started playing Wordle with his friends at the start of the year.
"My friends and I had just been hooked with Wordle. I assumed that Wordle is just a portmanteau of “word” and “riddle," and I thought it would be funny if someone made a Filipino version and named it Saltong, which is “salita” and “bugtong” combined," he told PhilSTAR L!fe.
"Also, I was in quarantine at that time and I had nothing else to do, so I thought why not make it myself."
Saltong was launched on Jan. 14 on De Guia's private Twitter account with only 50 people playing the game. By February, the player pool grew to 200,000 with celebrities like Bela Padilla and Bianca Gonzales joining in on the fun.
Saltong 27
— Bela Padilla (@padillabela) February 9, 2022
?3/6 ⌛24s
⬜???⬜
⬜????
?????https://t.co/8XuyBuoShg
I start with the same word every freaking day now ?
"I wasn't expecting people I don't know to play the game. After that, I felt a bit stressed because there were still a lot of bugs I'm not planning to fix when it started to take off," the game creator said.
To keep Saltong free to play, De Guia started an online tip jar to cover web server costs.
In making the game, the software developer shared that his knowledge of the Filipino language expanded.
"I learned a lot of new words that are not used that much anymore, and also how there's a lot of iterations of certain words that make word guessing games like Saltong quite difficult," he added.
De Guia confessed he's not a Wordle or Saltong expert, saying he's been having a hard time guessing the word of the day, too.
"Maybe read the dictionary to train yourself for the next round?" he said laughing.
According to the Saltong website, the words are sourced from tagalog.pinoydictionary.com—maybe you can use that as a cheat sheet if you try guessing the word of the day.