Josh Wardle, who received a round of applause at the Game Developers Conference, said he didn't design Wordle with monetization in mind. He also triggered something very rare during the pandemic: a room filled with the laughter of game developers.
Wordle has always been one of the rare sensations in the game because it was developed by a developer and has been played by millions of people since Wardle went public in October 2021. The title wasn't monetized, but after Wardle's release it went viral and daily results can be shared on Twitter in the form of emoji blocks.
There were plenty of clones on mobile stores to steal some of wordle's limelight, but when The New York Times acquired Wordle in January, Wardle was able to cash in on at a seven-figure price. That's not bad for software engineers and artists who make games for his partners. It's one of the game industry's fairy tales, like the stories of game creations like Flappy Bird, Threes, Stardew Valley, and others.
"I consider myself an artist. Running isn't fun for me," he said. "But on the other hand, I don't want to make a profit from the game. Others can profit entirely from the game. I don't want to make money from the game. This is probably the best outcome. ”
Wardle has caused jealousy because he makes the art of making popular video games seem so easy. He's a rare guy because he sees himself as an artist, not a game developer.
"I don't consider myself a game developer at all," Wardle says. "I kind of want to be honest about that. Maybe what I'm sharing with you here is very childish, but I just want to share my experience. ”
This week, I walked an average of 15,000 steps a day at GDC in San Francisco, looking for stories like this. Putting 30,000 or more game developers, some of whom I personally know, is in danger — and it's not easy to find inspiring stories lately. But I'm glad to have moments that make venturing into crowds and potentially make the coronavirus even more palatable.
An industry with less sexism?
Back at the GDC site in San Francisco, the exciting thing is the opportunity to randomly meet new people or hear good stories during the conference. Tropes vs. Anita Sarkeesian, creator of the Women series, revisited her criticism of sexist patterns in the game a decade after it was originally running. She was pleased to find that the apparent sexism she found in the game a decade ago had decreased.
The power of language
As I looked around for other touching moments, I was back in Wardle's conversation. Wardle's creation has reinvigorated the category of simple word games, and Wordle has become the world's largest game.
The end result is a daily word guessing game. You try to guess a hidden word and you only have six attempts. If you guess a letter and the box turns gray, it means that the letter is not in the word. If it turns yellow, it means that the letter is in the word, but the position is incorrect. If it turns green, then the letter is in the solution and in the right place.
Wardle started making the game back in 2013. He was working on a word game for the Android mobile platform. He originally made the game with more than 13,000 words. But he thinned it after testing the game with his partner. It wasn't until the pandemic that he worked again.
Suddenly, it makes sense to build something that can build relationships for people who are blocked off. He made a series of decisions that might be seen as wrong, such as getting people to play only once a day. He also decided to play it on a website instead of a mobile app, mainly because he knew how to develop for the web, but wasn't good at making apps. He chose not to monetize it because if he only wanted to make games for his partners, it would be meaningless.
Wardle and his partner tested the game on Wardle's website for about six months.
"I made the game for her," he said.
He slowly expanded the scope of the game. Then as celebrities started playing it and posting their results on Twitter, it started to catch on.
Since everyone advised him to find a way to monetize it, Wardle decided he didn't want to take responsibility. So he sold it.
"I made this game, but I'm not interested in running a game business," he said.
He thinks The New York Times would be a good steward.
Wardles says one of his favorite quotes comes from literary theorist Terry Eagleton, who says, "Language is the air I breathe." He believed that humans were animals of language.
Wardle played a game called Mastermind as a child, and Wordle is a variant of it. While playing a New York Times crossword puzzle, Wardle decided to redesign the Wordle game. (He thinks crossword puzzles are one of the best multiplayer co-op experiences.) He also decided to let people play the same game once a day so they could discuss something on social media. To get friends to play together, all you have to do is share the game on social media via a link.
"It ends up being an important part of the game," he said.
Wardle made it easy to share your game results, and he released it in December 2021. He found it taking off like a rocket. Celebrities like Paul McCartney raved about it. Jimmy Fallon talked about it in his show. Trevor Noah and Monica Lewinsky also talked about it. Derivative products are in effect.
But what makes Wardle happy is relationships. He comes from a small town in Wales, England, and is able to play with mom and dad. This means that they stay in touch regularly by sharing their words with each other.
"That's what I want," he said.