“Have you gotten the Wordle yet?,” a phrase frequently echoed throughout the Bryn Mawr classrooms as determined students and teachers decisively enter their five-letter guesses into a simple, gray array. Solving the daily Wordle has become an integral aspect of the daily routines of avid players. But for those who are unfamiliar with the new internet craze, Wordle, started by Josh Wardle, is a word puzzle in which players guess a five-letter word in six tries or less. The green and yellow squares that appear after each guess indicate whether a letter is placed in its correct position. To keep audiences engaged, one new word is released each day. Other variations of Wordle have been created, such a Nerdle, the objective of the game being to guess a new daily math equation, and Quordle, an intensified Wordle where players need to guess four five-letter words in nine tries or less.

Wordle has captivated the Bryn Mawr community since the beginning of this year, and its rapid growth in popularity raises the question of why this game is so appealing to users. For some, it is the communal aspect of working interactively and sharing results with others that makes the game so attractive. Celeste Flores, a freshman, wrote, “It’s fun because it’s something that you can experience with others around you. You can compare your scores with others and discuss the word, and it doesn’t take up too much time.”

But for others, it is simply the curiosity resulting from the avid discussion surrounding the daily Wordle that gives the initial encouragement to attempt to solve their first puzzle. Shreya Sirvastava, a sophomore, stated, “I started to play Wordle because it became really popular, and I wanted to see how addicting this game really was.”

Though these first two responses seem to suggest that Wordle’s claim to fame is a result from an external, collective body, MIT researchers focus on a more individualistic level. They accredit the game’s addictiveness to a model they describe as the “Habit Loop,” which, as suggested by its name, examines the structure behind every human habit at the most basic level. The first step is the “trigger”: a signal that causes the action. The second step is the “routine”: the habit itself and the qualities that make the action easy to catch on. The third and final step is the “reward”: the positive feedback resulting from the completion of a task. In the context of the game, the “trigger” may consist of the people surrounding the player. Having classmates around discussing the Wordle each day reminds players of the new puzzle that is awaiting them to solve. The “routine” is the limited amount of time it takes to complete each puzzle. Since the game is not the most time consuming, developing a routine around it is not too difficult. Finally the “reward” is simply the green squares that appear on players’ screens after accurately placing letters in their correct positions. As all Wordle players know, seeing just one of these green squares can bring a little boost of dopamine to a stress-filled day at school. 

Nevertheless, Wordle continues to thrive among the Bryn Mawr community. For students and teachers alike, this simple word puzzle offers a distraction from academic or work-related pressures, while giving them a chance to interact with their classmates and colleagues in a fun, light-hearted manner.