If you're itching to join in one of this year's big new social media gaming trends, there's probably one key question you'll want answered: is Wordle free? And, given recent events around the game's future, many are also wondering if Wordle will remain free. Here's what we know about those two loaded Wordle questions.
If you haven't played it already, here's a quick primer. Wordle is a simple word-based puzzle game that tasks players with guessing the day's five-letter word within six chances. You type in a word, the game tells you whether each individual letter is present in the solution, and whether or not you got them in the right place, and then you make an educated guess as to the answer. It's simple.
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If you're struggling with today's Wordle challenge, check out our Wordle answer list. And if you just want a clue so you can still feel just that little bit smarter without giving up your win streak, take a look at our growing Wordle clue list as well. We're also in the process of putting together a list of games like Wordle, so keep an eye out for that if you need more word games in your life.
Is Wordle Free?
As of March 7, 2022, Wordle is free to play. You can play the Wordle game app without opening up your wallet.
To play the Wordle game app - which is actually just a website - just click onto the Wordle page to have it load straight into your browser. Despite being free, Wordle doesn't even have any silly ads getting in your way. And it's so simple that it will barely even touch your data plan, so you can play the Wordle game app knowing that it isn't really costing you a thing. Is Wordle free? Moreso than Words With Friends, that's for sure.
For context, it's worth noting that making Wordle free was always part of the plan for creator Josh Wardle, who devised it as a small digital gift to his partner. For that reason, advertising or monetisation was never a consideration, hence why you can currently enjoy it without worrying about sponsored content on the side. But popularity means business. So how long will Wordle remain free? Let's talk about that.
Will Wordle Remain Free?
On January 31, it was announced that the New York Times newsgroup had purchased Wordle from creator Josh Wardle in a deal worth at least $1m. While the buyout hasn't changed anything about the game just yet, that's expected to change in the future - so Wordle's status as a free game could soon be a distant memory.
In the statement announcing the buyout, the New York Times said that Wordle would "initially remain free to new and existing players." This wording has unsurprisingly set alight fears that the game could one day go behind a paywall, which would put it in line with the rest of the paper's famous games. There's no sign of that happening in the short term, but it certainly sounds like it's on the cards.
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Some of the other games hosted on the NYT website are free to non-subscribers, but some are locked behind a paywall. Given the wild success of Wordle, it seems unlikely that it would immediately become a paid feature given the number of players who would simply go and find a new (free) game to play instead.
Is There A Premium Wordle Plan?
At the moment, there isn't a premium Wordle plan. If you see anything advertising a premium Wordle plan, it isn't official and could be a scam. Be careful.
This could certainly change following the buyout, but given the New York Times typically looks for ways to drive subscribers to its platform, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to keep the two entities separate should it ever look to monetise Wordle.
But what won't stop us from speculating as to how a premium Wordle plan could look. Some quick ideas could see it include more than one game each day, or even add some friendly features like hints, tips, or new words included in the already gargantuan roster. Now that they own the whole idea, there's nothing stopping the New York Times from offering four, five, seven, eight, or even longer letter word versions of Wordle appearing.
That's everything you need to know about the current state of Wordle and its pricing! The game remains free despite the NYT buyout, and looks set to remain that way for the time being. Of course, if anything changes we'll update our guide with the latest information, so stay tuned!
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