Word games. A genre embodied by daily browser games, and where a dictionary provides the ultimate cheat code. Popularized by Wordle, all types of word games have taken their turns occupying the free (and not so free) time of Ida B. Wells High School students.
Word games began to show up at IBW at the start of 2022 with the release of the popular New York Times game, Wordle. The goal of Wordle is to guess the new word each day. All around the world, the game exploded in popularity, quickly coming to dominate the breaks, passing periods and lunch of every student at IBW.
Wordle’s popularity created a new demand for word-based browser games. At IBW, students searched for popular Wordle variations, such as Absurdle, Worldle, or Semantle. Each variation added some kind of change to the base game, keeping players interested in the next new twist. When the new phone policy wasn’t in effect back then, students would often spend class time playing these games, sometimes sharing their scores or guess counts over Instagram or text messages.
As time went on, the interest in Wordle and its variants declined. But just as quickly, interest rose in all kinds of different word games.
Released in 2023, NYT Connections took the interest sparked by Wordle and channeled it into a new format. According to the New York Times, Connections is the second most popular word game in the world, just behind Wordle in monthly player count. The game operates by providing 16 different words, then challenging the player to match them correctly into four categories, in four tries. The challenge resets each day, much like Wordle does.
At IBW, Connections rose to prominence just as much as it did worldwide, with it being a frequent sight in the classroom and on Chromebooks. Students share whether or not they were able to solve the daily challenge before running out of moves, and either lamented themselves for not seeing a connection or praised themselves for their creative thinking, depending on the outcome.
But, the most surprising game continuing the trend today might be the New York Times Crossword. The classic game, available since 1942, experienced a revival among young teens and adults. Although a step up in difficulty and time, the daily — and free — New York Times Mini Crossword still shows up in IBW. Students, and even teachers, compete to see who can solve the crossword the fastest, earning bragging rights — until they find someone else faster.
