What’s the Wordle? As hit new puzzle gets bought up, PETER HOSKIN looks at other games that are free and fun to play on a web browser
So that was fun while it lasted. Wordle, the online puzzle game that has a claim to being the biggest cultural phenomenon of 2022 so far, was this week bought by The New York Times for ‘an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures’.
Will the cost be passed on to consumers? All the NYT has promised is that Wordle will remain free to play ‘at the time it moves’ – which is hardly a long-term commitment.
But there’s no reason for us online recreationists to worry. Whatever the suits do in future, there are plenty of other games that will remain free and fun to play within any standard web browser. This is actually one of the most exciting frontiers in gaming.
Consider, for example, the daily online crossword puzzle offered by The Atlantic magazine. Once you’ve exhausted this paper’s offerings, it’s a particularly elegant variation on the form.
The online version of Townscaper is technically a free trial for the full game, but it contains enough to fill hours’ worth of idle time
It starts on Monday with a grid so small and symmetrical that filling in all of the ‘across’ words also fills in all of the ‘down’ words. Then the grids expand throughout the week until, on Sunday, it’s a mega, interconnected marvel that’s full of surprise and even humour.
Or, for those who prefer numbers, Threes is a modern-day classic. It involves moving tiles around an increasingly full grid to first create and then combine multiples of three. Reaching the bigger totals is both mentally and geometrically satisfying.
There are even browser games to test your reflexes. At first glance, Slither.io looks like a trippier version of the old mobile game Snake, with its ever-lengthening serpent gobbling up little blobs of light. But then you notice that there are other snakes – other players – in there with you, all of which are best avoided. Quick, dodge!
The online version of Townscaper is far more calming. It’s technically a free trial for the full game, but it contains enough to fill hours’ worth of idle time, or possibly even days.
Simply sweep your cursor across the screen and watch walls, windows and roofs appear in its wake. It feels like painting with buildings.
But to see what your browser can really do, set your destination to Fallen London. It’s a sprawling, text-based adventure that’s set in a sprawling, cosmically warped version of our capital in Victorian times.
The aim, really, is to enjoy the story – and create your own. Such is the power of wordles. Sorry, words.