Originally published at: The New York Times bought Wordle | Boing Boing
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Can they prevent copycats? it’s not like it’s so complex, and there are already dozens of parodies
If they paywall it there will be many sites that do the same thing with a slightly different interface. I doubt they will be able to get anything but trademark on the Wordle name/logo
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Which is likely the point.
Look how they manage the crosswords. There’s books, a dedicated ap, web page, periodicals. Tote bags. The NYTs cross word is a shibboleth for a certain sort of person, and a distinctive brand apart from crosswords in general.
Just think how Sudoku blew up a few years back. Think licensed/syndicated Wordle puzzles in every newspaper and magazine. Daily with a big one on Sunday.
Wardle likely couldn’t exploit it quite that way. I got to imagine he was having trouble just covering hosting. It’s not a complex page, but it doesn’t even have ads on it and a lot of people were hitting it every day.
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New York Times outlays seven-figure sum for 1,900 lines of JavaScript – yes, we mean Wordle
[…]
NYTCo revealed the deal is valued “in the low seven figures” but has not offered greater detail. The deal is not sufficiently large to have rated a mention on the NYTCo investor relations page, nor a regulatory filing.
Whatever the price, it sounds like a lot to pay for a game that appears to be largely comprised of 1,880 lines of JavaScript once beautified.
[…]
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I mean, good for the game maker.
Good games don’t need to be complex.
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I think that sort of minimizes Wardle’s work. The code isn’t neccisarily the important part. The design of the actual puzzle is the bit that got people excited.
Though I’m not enough into word puzzles to know how distinctive that is, it’s not like there’s a whole ton new popping up in this sort thing.
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Though he didn’t actually design the puzzle. Or maybe he did, but he wasn’t the first. This exact game has been a tv game for years and years in the Netherlands. And I think in Germany as well.
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This is why we can’t have nice things.
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Well you can’t do Wordle in a print medium… unless you mean some kind of online syndication?
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No I mean they’ll slap the name on a derivative puzzle. NYT has an entire office dedicated to designing and publishing puzzles and word games.
They have multiple crossword designers on staff. A couple of dedicated Sudoku peeps.
More recently they’ve been getting involved in ap development.
I’m actually a little surprised they didn’t just hire Wardle.
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If I were Wardle I’d be planning what my last few words were and make them a sign off.
I can’t think of anything, though.
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THANKS GREAT PEACE HAPPY PEEPS?
(No bbs, that indeed is not a complete sentence.)
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ALERT
UPSET
SETUP
insert complete sentence to post to BBS
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Seems like a risky purchase, given how quickly the popularity of some of these fads burns out.
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Unless the site has been rewritten, all the answers for the next five years are hard-coded.
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Scratch-off Wordle, right next to your lottery tickets.
(I know that still doesn’t work, but they’ll come up with a variation)
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I just did this and it seemed to work but it can’t be that easy, can it? Wouldn’t NYT have locked it down before the announcement?
I downloaded the page and the script came with it. At first I thought the script was hosted on a different server so it wouldn’t work but I disconnected from the internet and played today’s word. I then closed the page and opened it again still not connected and it said I had to wait 8 hours for the next game.
I was even able to share the results.
Am I or the author of this missing something?
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Will Shortz demands to own ALL THE GAMES!
mwahahahahaaaaa
