New York Times acquires popular word game Wordle, to remain 'free to play' initially

The popular free online word game - Wordle has been bought by American daily - The New York Times, the publication informed on Monday. The game has become more popular over the last few weeks and has also become a daily obsession for many.

The New York Times informed that it listed the purchase price as being in the “low seven figures”, however, it did not disclose specifics, the Associated Press reported. The newspaper already has popular word games like Spelling Bee and its crossword puzzle. It also informed that the game will be free to play for new and existing players.

"At the time it moves to The New York Times, Wordle will be free to play for new and existing players, and no changes will be made to its gameplay", The New York Times said 

The game was created by Brooklyn-based software engineer - Josh Wordle who had initially created it for his partner. However, Wordle soon released the game for the public in October. Back on November 1, only 90 people had played it but the game later attracted 300,000 after people began sharing their scores on social media - mainly Twitter. 

The word puzzle lets players guess a five-letter word in six tries. However, players are not provided with any hints. Wordle has millions of daily players across the world and NYT has also remarked that the game has become a "viral online phenomenon". In addition, it has also led to more similar games like “Airportle”, wherein one is allowed to guess airport abbreviations. It also has “Queertle,” with words for the queer community. 

How to play Wordle? 

To play Wordle now, you have to visit its website. Simply type in a five-letter word. If any letters turn green, you got the right letter in the right place. Yellow letters mean right letter wrong place and gray letters mean they are not in the word of the day. 

Wordle's appeal has been in part due to its simplicity, no bells, whistles, or ads or asking for your email address to play — just a website with 30 blank squares and a keyboard. Some apps have tried to piggyback on its success, confusing people who downloaded — or even paid for — apps on their phone thinking it's the original Wordle.

With AP inputs