For those of you who revolve your daily schedule around when you have time to chalk up a list of a few five-letter words, then you’re probably already an avid player of the game Wordle. For those of you who don’t, what are you doing with your life? 

Wordle is an online puzzle game where players have six chances to guess the five-letter word of the day. Every 24 hours, a new word of the day generates for the crazed Wordle-ers to solve. As a player guesses words, letters will light up green, yellow, and gray. Green appears if you’ve guessed a letter in the word and placed it in the right spot, yellow if you’ve guessed a correct letter but typed it in the wrong spot, and gray if the letter is not in the word, but I’m sure you all already knew that. What you might not know is the origin of the game. Engineer Josh Wardle originally created the game for his wife who loves word games. After his wife and the rest of their family fell in love with and raved about the game, he decided to go public with it. 

Back in November of 2021 (when life was normal and for the most part Wordle free), the game had less than 100 players. Since then, Wordle has exploded and amassed millions of followers. The game has no doubt become a popular phenomenon among the Dubs. North Atlanta students and staff have jumped on the Wordle train, making a daily attempt at solving the addictive puzzles. It seems to be all anyone thinks or talks about anymore. If you’re spending your day at North Atlanta, you’re bound to be asked, “Did you do the Wordle today?” at least once. And if you listen close enough, you can hear a sort of “Wordle buzz” in the hallways of students bragging—or sulking—about their daily Wordle triumphs and pitfalls. “I love playing Wordle,” said junior Duskin Balch. “I play it every single day. It’s like I’m addicted to it.”

The game has brought new life to challenging the mind and having fun while doing it. Playing Wordle allows one to expand their vocabulary and challenge their mind to think hard and creatively. I mean, who would have thought that a bunch of teenagers would become this devoted to such a mind-engaging puzzle game? “It’s so interesting to see all of my friends get so obsessed with this game because it’s nothing like the mindless games that everyone usually plays,” said junior Lindsay Vicens.

Wordle has become an integral part of the Dubs’ daily routine, whether you are an avid player or just someone who occasionally throws out a five-letter phrase in hopes to help a friend out. Whether you use a strategy to solve the daily puzzle or if you’re just freeballing it, it’s hard to not give in to the world of Wordle.