‘Wordle Archive’ lets you binge-play all the Wordles you missed
Can’t get enough of guessing game Wordle?
Wordle is a web-based puzzle game in which users have six tries to guess a five-letter word. Letters change color to indicate how close you are to solving the puzzle.
The free daily word game blew up in popularity at the start of 2022 giving players only one fun puzzle to tackle a day.
According to Wordle creator Josh Wardle, this was so people wouldn't spend too much time on it. As such, previous puzzles aren't available through the official website.
However, if you’re late to join the guessing game party or want to go back to words that stumped you in the early days, you can now binge-play the game's entire archive thanks to the Wordle Archive website.
Wordle Archive is the work of computational biologist and designer, Devang Thakkar, who launched the site in early January. Thakkar has done a good job of replicating the original format, allowing users to easily click through to play through previous puzzles.
In keeping with the spirit of the puzzle game, it’s all open-source, with the code available on GitHub.
As of Monday, Feb. 7, 2022 the site contains all 232 puzzles since the game’s surprise release in 2021.
According to Thakkar, the archive has already nabbed a million hits and is already getting over 100,000 users a day, which shows just much of a phenomenon the game is.
A million hits this week, 100k+ users a day. Will I compare everything I do in the future with this weekend project? Will I ever be satisfied again? Probably not. https://t.co/sEhVSY0jxR pic.twitter.com/WrJFw9XFMf
— Devang Thakkar (@devangvang) January 27, 2022
"Wordle is very simple and you can play it in three minutes—and that is all you get," Wardle previously said in a BBC interview. "There are also no ads and I am not doing anything with your data—and that is also quite deliberate."
Wardle assured fans that Wordle will remain “free to play for everyone” despite its move to the New York Times, which bought the game weeks after it became a viral phenomenon.
“I am working with them to make sure your wins and streaks will be preserved,” said Wardle.
While the game remains free for now, that may not be the case forever. At this time, it's unknown whether the Times will house an archive of its own, or allow this current unofficial archive to remain online.
Since it launched, Wordle has spawned tons of clones and alternatives, including the Filipino version Saltong, a BTS themed Wordle and even a Wordle for Swifties dubbed Taylordle.
