2 ms·

Aside: Isn't Wordle just an adaptation of the game Lingo? [1] Fun, most definitely, but hardly the novel idea the internet seems to be making it out to be. [1]

Aside: Isn't Wordle just an adaptation of the game Lingo? [1] Fun, most definitely, but hardly the novel idea the internet seems to be making it out to be. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingo_(American_game_show) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingo_(American_game_show)

rlv-dan 5y ago
My first thought was "master mind with letters instead of colors".
- marpstar 5y ago
  My girlfriend was 10 seconds into explaining Wordle to me before I asked "so it's the same as Mastermind but letters instead of colors". She had never heard of Mastermind before.
- viraptor 5y ago
  I described it as mastermind crossed with hangman.
davidivadavid 5y ago
Known to French people as Motus [1] since the 1990s, I was also surprised that people just discovered that game. [1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motus_(jeu_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vis%C3%A9) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motus_(jeu_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vis%C...
paulhodge 5y ago
Sure but the real genius of Wordle is the simple things they did to promote virality.. 1) Everyone in the world gets the same puzzle every day 2) The "share to Twitter" message just shows the green/yellow squares, so it shares your journey and teases the puzzle, without spoiling the answer. Almost no one had heard of Lingo/Wordle before this, now they have, so that counts for something.
- Tijdreiziger 5y ago
  > Almost no one had heard of Lingo/Wordle before this, now they have, so that counts for something. Per Wikipedia it aired in 17 countries over 35 years and counting, so it seems relatively widespread to me. (You’d be hard pressed to find a Dutch person who hasn’t heard of it!)
  - sombremesa 5y ago
    Something I've learned is that if people like the copycat enough, they will always defend it. That's what happened to Threes/2048, and that's what will happen here. The wiggle room between Lingo <-> Wordle is narrow compared to Threes <-> 2048, but people will find a way. Interestingly, this means that copying stuff will not come back to bite you, even when you get popular - as long as you copy ideas and not assets/characters/etc.

rlv-dan 5y ago

My first thought was "master mind with letters instead of colors".

marpstar 5y ago
My girlfriend was 10 seconds into explaining Wordle to me before I asked "so it's the same as Mastermind but letters instead of colors". She had never heard of Mastermind before.
viraptor 5y ago
I described it as mastermind crossed with hangman.

davidivadavid 5y ago

Known to French people as Motus [1] since the 1990s, I was also surprised that people just discovered that game. [1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motus_(jeu_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vis%C3%A9) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motus_(jeu_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vis%C...

paulhodge 5y ago

Sure but the real genius of Wordle is the simple things they did to promote virality.. 1) Everyone in the world gets the same puzzle every day 2) The "share to Twitter" message just shows the green/yellow squares, so it shares your journey and teases the puzzle, without spoiling the answer. Almost no one had heard of Lingo/Wordle before this, now they have, so that counts for something.

Tijdreiziger 5y ago
> Almost no one had heard of Lingo/Wordle before this, now they have, so that counts for something. Per Wikipedia it aired in 17 countries over 35 years and counting, so it seems relatively widespread to me. (You’d be hard pressed to find a Dutch person who hasn’t heard of it!)
- sombremesa 5y ago
  Something I've learned is that if people like the copycat enough, they will always defend it. That's what happened to Threes/2048, and that's what will happen here. The wiggle room between Lingo <-> Wordle is narrow compared to Threes <-> 2048, but people will find a way. Interestingly, this means that copying stuff will not come back to bite you, even when you get popular - as long as you copy ideas and not assets/characters/etc.