MA-0033 · first seen October 2021
Wordle
A five-letter word game whose grid of green, yellow and grey squares filled social feeds in early 2022.
- Status
- FallingPast its peak, within the last five years
- Trend score
- 24/100Estimated
- Change, 90 days
- −1%Estimated
- Peak
- 88Jan 2022
- Years active
- 3Index of 30 or more
- First seen
- 2021October 2021
Popularity over time
Monthly attention from Oct 2021 to Oct 2026. Hover or tab through the chart for each month.
- First appearance
- Went viral
- Peak
- Decline
Attention index, 0 to 100 on one scale for the whole archive. Estimated from each meme’s key dates, not measured.
About
Software engineer Josh Wardle created Wordle as a gift for his partner and released it publicly in October 2021. There was no app, no ads and one puzzle a day. Its share button produced a spoiler-free grid of coloured squares that anyone could paste into a post.
In December 2021 those grids began to appear on Twitter in huge numbers, and January 2022 saw the game’s explosion. On 31 January 2022 The New York Times announced it had acquired the game. The grid became a daily ritual and spawned countless spin-offs and parodies.
Origin
Released publicly by Josh Wardle in October 2021 as a browser game.
October 2021
Viralization
Its spoiler-free grid of coloured squares began filling Twitter in December 2021.
December 2021
Peak
January 2022, when The New York Times announced its acquisition on 31 January.
Jan 2022
Timeline
From the first post to where it stands today.
Origin
A gift
Josh Wardle releases a word-guessing game he made for his partner.
Early adoption
A small community
Players share the game by word of mouth.
Viral
The grid
Players start pasting the spoiler-free grid of squares into Twitter.
Peak
A daily ritual
The game reaches millions of daily players.
Decline
The New York Times
The newspaper announces it has bought Wordle.
Current
Still daily
A steady, smaller audience continues to play.
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