The World of "rdles"

An example Wordle puzzle, as found on the NYT website

Wordle is a word-guessing game where you have six tries to guess a five-letter word. When you enter a guess, a green letter indicates a correct letter in the correct position; a yellow indicates a correct letter in an incorrect position (see above graphic). There is one new puzzle per day, and the website keeps track of your statistics (how many successfully guessed, how quickly you guessed them, etc.).

It started in October 2021; it's now a worldwide sensation. The New York Times bought the game in January 2022 for an undisclosed low seven-figure sum(!). It is free to play, fast, and fun. A good example of a simple concept used to great effect. 

Predictably, Wordle's success has spawned a tremendous number of knock-offs and variants in a short time. Here are just a few of them:

Original Concept

Wordle: the original. One new word daily.

Wordle archive: play any past Wordle. UPDATE: this was taken offline in mid-April.

Multiple Words

In these variants, each try is applied to multiple words at the same time.

Dordle: Guess two words at once; seven tries. 

Quordle: Guess four words at once; nine tries.

Octordle: Guess eight words at once; thirteen tries.

Duotrigordle: Guess 32 words at once; 37 tries. Scroll down to see all of them. Sheesh.

Math

Nerdle: guess an equation instead of a word. One new daily.

Primel: guess a 5-digit prime number. Six tries.

Geography

Worldle: guess the country based on its shape. Six tries.

Thematic

These variants focus on a specific theme.

Lordle of the Rings: focused on words (including proper names) that are found in Tolkien's books.

Star Wordle: focused on Star Wars terms.

Sports

Here, you guess the name of a player from a dropdown menu based on stats like team, division, position, age, and height.

Weddle: for NFL.

Poeltl: for NBA.

Wardle: for MLB.

Gordle: for NHL: this one is like normal Wordle (it doesn't use a dropdown menus for player names or use stats)

CFBordle: also like Wordle, but for college football (but not just players- teams, mascots, stadiums, etc.).

There are even more imitations, I'm sure. This site lists a few I didn't cover.

Phew! This concept has run amok. But I admit, it is fun.