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The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Daily: Wordle Gets Around - Why Tiles Took Over Twitter

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

News, Government, Politics, Society & Culture

4.61K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you’ve been on Twitter in the past month, you might have heard of ‘Wordle’, the new Mastermind meets Scrabble game taking the world by storm. Over 300,000 now play everyday, but how did it become such a phenomenon? C. Thi Nguyen, philosophy professor at the University of Utah and author of Games: Agency as Art, talks Alex Andreou about why Wordle has proven such a hit, from its simple design to the joy of shareability. “A lot of the most interesting games are confined.” “The thing that makes Wordle so unique is the shareablility.” “I was seeing people sharing these square stacks and wondered what it was.” “Games are an activity and a struggle, but they’re a struggle that we shape for our own enjoyment.” “The real effect of the ‘one-puzzle-a-day’ is the social effect. You can see and feel how others found the puzzle.” Presented by Alex Andreou. The group editor is Andrew Harrison. The Lead Producer is Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

My name is Stan. I'm at. Nice to meet you. So you took up photography where? I've always loved

0:05.5

photography but I turn it into earning a living at 60. I enrolled on a day course.

0:11.8

Well college. I loved going to college. It's good you can retry. I'm enrolled on the day course. But college?

0:13.0

I loved going to college.

0:14.0

It's good you can retrain and do something.

0:16.0

Yeah, yeah.

0:17.0

Let's talk about working, learning, saving and making the most of living longer.

0:22.0

Phoenix Group is the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business.

0:28.0

Search Phoenix Group living longer.

0:30.0

Pets brings so much joy.

0:32.0

From those happy greetings at the door to the warm cuddles on the sofa

0:36.7

so give a little love back with dental life from Purina a range of delicious chues made for dogs and tasty snacks for cats that help clean and support your pets, teeth and gums, essential for their overall well-being and a happy, healthy life. They give you plenty of smiles so

0:55.3

look after theirs with dental life. Pick up dental life in the pet food aisle. Hello and welcome to the bunker daily I am your host Alex Andreu.

1:13.0

Wordle in case you have been living in a hippie commune in Bolivia for the last month

1:18.0

or you are Donald Trump and therefore banned from the internet is a word puzzle game.

1:24.0

Think mastermind meets Scrabble.

1:26.8

There's one puzzle per day and it is the same for everyone.

1:30.4

On the 1st of November 2021, 90 people attempted the day's war.

1:38.0

Last Sunday, more than 300,000 people had a go.

1:42.0

But why, why this? Why now? Why games at all? Why does an

1:46.9

assuming thing become hot while a planned product with millions behind it in

1:51.8

marketing flop.

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