Wordle: Harvard psychologist explains what makes this simple word game so addictive

The new word game ‘Wordle’ has taken the virtual world by storm as it has gathered an overwhelmingly large fan base and has even turned several into game addicts. Launched five months ago, Wordle has a simple concept where the players are made to guess one word every 24 hours and are given six chances to do so. Since the game is spreading like wildfire among online game lovers, a psycholinguist and Harvard’s Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Steven Pinker answered what makes this simple game so appealing.

"I imagine it has the optimal level of reward. It’s hard enough to require concentrated thought, but not so intractable as to leave people frustrated most of the time", Pinker said as per Harvard's report. 

(Professor Steven Pinker; Image: Harvard University)

Playing Wordle does not improve memory, says Pinker

When asked if playing Wordle improves memory, Pinker said, "Sadly, I doubt it." He also underlined the misconception that the brain is like a muscle training it with one exercise strengthens it for many different tasks. He said that it is the same reason why people think learning Latin and computer programming would instil formal, logical reasoning in pupils, and playing sudoku can stave off dementia in older people. "In reality, cognitive psychologists find that if you train students in Latin grammar, they get really good in Latin grammar, but not much else, and so on for Sudoku, Wordle, and other games," Pinker added. 

The psycholinguistic expert also explained why some people are better at Wordle than others citing five reasons. He said that general intelligence, verbal intelligence, phonological awareness, literacy in English, including familiarity with large numbers of words and spelling patterns and the urge to solve intellectual problems in some people are the major reasons.

However, the professor said that he played the game once and has vowed to never play the game again to save time for work. "Perhaps mindful of its capacity to destroy lives and careers, Wordle presents only one puzzle a day," Pinker said. 

(Image: Harvard University)