Wordle, Connections, Strands, and the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle. What do they have in common? They’re all free games available on the New York Times website. Whether you play daily or whenever you’re bored, the NYT games have become a popular way people challenge themselves every day.
One of the most popular mini games is the Wordle. Software engineer for Twitter, Josh Wardle released his game in 2021 and only four months later 300,000 people played per day. The game features a new 5 letter word that changes daily. You have 6 tries to guess the word and if you guess a letter that appears in the word, a box will light up yellow. If you guess the correct letter in the right spot it will light up green.
Wardle had originally made the game for his partner due to her love of games and puzzles, but he later decided to publish it after his family loved the game. In January 2022, The New York Times bought the game for an undisclosed seven figure fee. So why play these mini games like Wordle? Besides the fun challenge, does the Wordle actually have benefits?
Many people play the Wordle daily and compare scores with their friends and family. For some people, playing the game is fun and for pleasure, but for others it’s a competition of who can get the word first, proving that they are “smarter.”
1 in 250 people guess the Wordle in one try, leading us to believe that doing the Wordle is simply pure luck, not brains. According to Aaron Seitz, a memory and learning research and psychology professor at the University of California, “No. You’re just a person who does well at Wordle versus another person who doesn’t do as well at Wordle.”
This leads us to believe that the Wordle has no benefit and is purely a game of fun. Playing the Wordle daily could increase your likelihood of being better at the Wordle than others , but it doesn’t translate into general knowledge.
East Islip Freshman Ruby Micali plays Wordle every day, but doesn’t think that makes it easier to guess the word. “I think because it’s constantly a new word and people obviously don’t know every word in the dictionary, guessing will get progressively harder despite yesterday’s luck.”
So if playing the Wordle and other NYT mini games doesn’t have any brain benefits and playing daily doesn’t make it easier to get the word quicker, then why play at all?
Despite the lack of cognitive benefits, playing these games is still a fun and challenging way to test yourself and compete with friends and family.
