It’s now possible for Wordle players to pit their word-guessing skills against one another in competitive multiplayer, thanks to a fan-made version that’s available to try out. The clean simplicity of Wordle has made it easy for fans to add unique twists to the game, with this latest example letting players take on a more heated experience than one might expect from the usually chill puzzler.
Much of Wordle’s charm comes down to its easy-to-understand premise. For the uninitiated, each day players are given six tries to guess a five-letter word, and with each guess the letters change to different colors depending on whether they’re correct or not, providing players clues to get them closer to the answer. After debuting in late 2021, the browser game blew up in popularity in early 2022, eventually leading to Wordle being bought by the New York Times. One contributing factor in that success is the ability for players to share spoiler-free results of their games online, adding a social aspect to the otherwise single-player experience.
However, some fans may wish for a version of Wordle that lets them engage with others more directly, and that’s what Reddit user alvisanovari’s multiplayer take on the game, known as Wordle Race, provides. Unlike other fan-made multiplayer Wordles, Wordle Race challenges two players to be the first to guess a word. The catch here is that both players can see each other’s guesses, meaning they can potentially use their opponents’ moves against them in order to figure out the answer first.
Players interested in giving Wordle Race a try currently have the option to invite their friends into a match as well as create a public room if they’d rather go up against a random stranger. In a break from the original Wordle, words reset after every game instead of on a daily basis, so players can go at it for multiple rounds in a single session. Veteran Wordle fans should know, though, that there are some noticeable differences between this Wordle’s word list and the original’s, as Wordle Race’s answers include plural versions of four-letter words.
The popularity of Wordle this past year has given rise to all sorts of Wordle clones for players to indulge in once they complete the puzzle of the day. Beyond Wordle Race, there are games that have become hits in their own right, like Quordle, which has players trying to guess four words at once, or Lewdle, which is just Wordle but with lewd words. Some clones even go beyond words and apply the guessing puzzle structure to visual puzzles themed around anything from video games to dogs, proving how versatile Wordle’s deceptively simple gameplay can be.
Wordle is available on any browser.