The popular online word game Wordle has been adapted into a party board game that will be released in October.
Having purchased Wordle earlier this year, The New York Times has partnered with Hasbro to bring the viral free game to the table. As CNN (opens in new tab) reports, Wordle: The Party Game looks a lot like the original, but lets you play with a group of up to three friends using dry erase boards and whiteboard markers.
In the board game, one player will act as “Wordle’s host”, who thinks of a five-letter secret word for the other players to guess. You’ll have six attempts to guess the secret word, accumulating points by successfully guessing in the fewest attempts possible. As in the original game, the host will also place translucent green and yellow tiles over any correct letters to provide hints.
Check out the game in action in the video below:
Love Wordle? Gather friends and family to enjoy your favorite real-life word guessing game with Wordle: The Party Game! Available for pre-order now on #HasbroPulse! pic.twitter.com/ihgsZj9NpXJuly 14, 2022
A game no one asked for
Expectations for a Wordle board game have never been exactly high. Few people were asking for a tabletop adaptation of the hit word game, but even this attempt by Hasbro to turn the solitaire phone puzzler into a four-player party game doesn’t seem to have hit the mark.
From Hasbro’s game summary, it actually doesn’t seem particularly suited for parties. There is very little player interaction, with each guesser working independently to discover the secret word. In fact, it might be better not to talk to your fellow opponents, lest you accidentally give them a tip that spurs them on to victory. It all sounds pretty lonely and hardly the collaborative game you’d want to play with your friends.
Sounds a little clunky, too. The Host has to manually place small green and yellow tiles on each person’s board, which are forced to fly in all directions with no indented spaces to fit them. you may well find yourself waiting for your fellow players to make their guesses.
The other game modes can mix things up, especially the team-based guessing game. But really, if they rock the Wordle formula so much, it’s no longer a Wordle board game. Maybe the Wordle: The Party game will be brilliant when it comes out, but we wouldn’t bet on that.
If you’re looking for a game to hang out with friends and family, check out Herd Mentality. We think it’s one of the best board games out there because of its casual rules and the hilarious mishaps you must have when playing.