Since its launch in December last year, Wordle has garnered a large following online. Many Indians have also become engrossed in the game and now, the love for the word puzzle has reached new heights with the creation of various desi versions by web developers and game enthusiasts. These versions include Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kashmiri, Odia, and more. Are you ready to tackle the words, accents, and diacritical marks in these new versions?
How about playing Tamilaadal or Shabdle?
Just like Wordle creator Josh Wardle’s backstory about the puzzle’s creation, P Sankar, a software architect from Chennai, has an interesting story behind Tamilaadal. Sankar came up with the idea for the Tamil version to make his daughter more interested in her native language. “As the game gained popularity within my Twitter circle, I wanted to give it a new twist. I developed a Tamil version for my daughter and shared it on Twitter, expecting a few friends to join me. However, it became a hit,” he says.
Similarly, Aditya Mhatre, a senior software engineer from Maharashtra currently based in Dallas, Texas, got the idea to create a Marathi version of the puzzle after spending a sleepless night playing Wordle due to jetlag. “Many people are not familiar with a lot of English words. So, I thought, why not create a version in Marathi for Marathi-speaking individuals,” wrote Aditya in an online post on LinkedIn. He spent approximately 11 hours creating Shabdle.
Wordle enthusiasts around the world have created about 770 versions in 149 languages. These versions celebrate linguistic diversity, explore playful creativity, and provide fun experiences.
Although these versions are based on Wordle, they have language-specific modifications and offer more attempts. For example, Shabdle gives players seven tries and presents a new word with each page load. Tamilaadal features words ranging from five to eight letters. Shabdarasa, the Odia version, allows eight attempts per day. Shabdak, another Marathi version, only provides three slots for letters. The Kashmiri version, Accher, developed by Haider Ali Punjabi, gives users eight attempts in the Urdu font. Additionally, there are Sanskrit, Punjabi, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Urdu versions available.
But the Wordle universe doesn’t stop with desi versions. Pop culture fictional universes have also inspired interesting variants. There is a Klingon version based on the fictional language spoken by an alien race in the popular Star Trek universe. Potterheads can enjoy Wizarding or HP Wordle. Fans of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars also have their own versions. Even Taylor Swift and BTS have Wordle versions related to their songs.
