If your first waking moments are spent making a fresh list of five-letter words, then you already know the allure of the internet's hottest viral word game: Wordle.
Since it first launched in October, Wordle has drawn in millions of daily players who desperately try to guess one new five-letter word each day in no more than six attempts. Even if you haven't played Wordle, it's likely your social media feeds have been flooded with yellow, green and gray emoji squares from Wordle players broadcasting their daily results.
Designed by Brooklyn-based software engineer Josh Wardle, Wordle had only 90 players on Nov. 1, a month after launching, but that number skyrocketed into the millions by the end of January.
Despite Wordle's lack of advertisements and Wardle not charging fans to play his game, the creator has already made a bundle from the side project's viral popularity. He recently sold Wordle to The New York Times for a price in the low-seven figures. While the deal leaves the game's ad-free, free-to-play future up in the air, one thing remains clear — people are hooked.
