The insanely popular word game Wordle is now owned by the New York Times but still does not exist as an official mobile app. It has not stopped other developers from joining the genre.
When Wordle’s success was a fact, a whole bunch of clones of the game appeared that used exactly the same design and even spied on the name. They reached the top of the App Store in a short time, but soon disappeared in a major purge. A new wave of clones appeared some time later, and now a third wave is here, reports The Verge.
This time, however, it looks a little different than before. There are not as many games as before, and the game that currently tops the list of free games in the US is “Wordle!”, A game that has been around for several years and has benefited from the name. The developer behind it has recently added a game mode that is more or less identical to Wordle, but it also has two other word puzzles from before.
Apple’s previous cleansing of Wordle clones has been based on infringing on the original’s copyright, but a game design – rules and layout – has no such protection.
Those who are just looking to play the currently so popular Wordle do best to avoid the App Store and stick to it the original on the New York Times website.
