Wordle has taken over the family group chat

My partner’s mom has this saying (more or less) that she didn’t care what her kids message her, she just wants regular messages to make sure we are all alive and well. The viral word guessing game has made it possible to now have fun with this. Wordle, she doesn’t have to worry anymore.

WordleSix turns are required to correctly guess the daily word. With each subsequent guess, the game gives you hints that tell you which letters are or aren’t in the final word. After you have won (or lost), you can copy and paste a grid to share your score. This shows the colors that correspond with your guesses. Every day everyone receives the same word. Combining this with its built-in social sharing, it is the perfect message for copying, pasting, and sending away.

Before WordleMy family chat group was mainly used to make plans and share photos. It wasn’t dead, but it was sparse. It is now that I wake up every morning to receive messages from family members with scores of comments and suggestions on the progress of the puzzle. “I got a little overzealous and started guessing words right away instead of gathering possible letters,” my partner said of Wordle puzzle 219. More recently, my partner’s brother told us about how there’s actually a hard mode and how to turn it on.

My partner’s mom and step-dad are always the first to send a score in the morning. They both get up early. My partner, his brothers, sister-in-law and my mom will all respond throughout the day. We’ll keep adding to the list as we have time, in different time zones, to solve the puzzle. “It’s a great way to take a few minutes out of a busy day to participate in a shared experience.” My partner’s mom said, “It’s fun to see how everyone is doing and how each of us have had different strategies to find answers.”

Wordle is easy to learn and doesn’t take all that much time each day to play. Because of its design, it’s a fun game that appeals to and is accessible across generations and these group chats help us share that joy together.