Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
vaghetti.dev
Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
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Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#2Nice insights. A few good design decisions multiply together to make Wordle irresistible to both gamers and non-gamers.
Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#3I'm a huge fan of the plain text share functionality that Wordle uses (introduced?). Loving it in the various clones that are coming out as well and I hope it becomes a common "simple share" approach in other applications.
Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#4I agree with OP. Not enough credit goes to how simple, but great of a product Wordle is.
Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#5I think it’s about as close to a local maxima as any software product I’ve ever used.
Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#6I'm a huge fan of the plain text share functionality that Wordle uses (introduced?). Loving it in the various clones that are coming out as well and I hope it becomes a common "simple share" approach in other applications.
The share functionality was actually taken from a twitter user who started posting her results in that format. It's a very clever way to show your journey without spoiling the results, and almost certainly had a big impact on the virality of the game.
Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#7The OP does a terrific job detailing the simple beauty of Wordle.
Is it OK if we like it more because it was born out of love?: ‘Wordle is a love story’ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/technology/wordle-word-ga...
And in the space of a month went from ‘introduced in NY Times’ to ‘bought by NY Times’?
‘The New York Times Buys Wordle’ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/business/media/new-york-t...
In many ways, I think this is the perfected ideal of what engineer-creators hope for.
The intense focus on making something that feels magical for one - even better that that one is magical to you.
Sharing the creation with a few friends and having them experience the magic too.
And having the world recognize, and then pay $ millions, for your creation done in the name of love.
No years lost in the lab, no fighting with corporate suits to keep ads out, no long marches of ‘growth’ tactics that feel icky.
It is the Romantic Ideal of Engineering.
Does any other story come close?
Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#8> It also brings players back into the game, but not in an annoying way like Farmville Facebook notifications.
As someone who doesn't play, it's getting more and more annoying. Especially now that there's stuff like Wordle Except It's Four Games At Once demanding space on my social timelines.
Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#9I think it’s about as close to a local maxima as any software product I’ve ever used.
Exactly!!
Re: Wordle is pretty damn smart in many subtle ways
#10Good design is often subtle and easy to dismiss, especially for smart engineers. You might remember the "What's the deal? It's just mastermind with letters" comments here and elsewhere. I agree with the article that Wordle got many little things right, and I think that's a huge part of its success.
I wonder how long it will stay that way under NY Times ownership. Just today, I was greeted with a new cookie prompt that covered up the keyboard on mobile Safari and wouldn't disappear without a refresh. Not a good sign of things to come.