The New York Times has sued an offshoot of its viral web game Wordle. Again. If? I had to guess, the word o?f the day is "petty."

This time, the [insert-word-here]-le game on the legal chopping block is Worldle, a geography-themed puzzle game designed by Seattle-based developer Kory McDonald. Averaging around 100,000 players a month, Worldle presents you with the outline of a specific country or territory and challenges you to guess which one it is. It's like a highly condensed version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, but you aren't looking for a trench-coated spy.

Unfortunately, Worldle is now in the crosshairs of the New York Times, which purchased Wordle from its original developer, Josh Wardle, for an undisclosed seven-figure sum back in 2022. In a legal document obtained by the BBC, The New York Times argues that McDonald is trying to "ca??use confusion" and take advantage of Wordle's "enormous goodwill".

I'll be the first to admit that Worldle shares more than a few DNA strands with Wordle, but McDonald is far from the first developer to coast off of Wordle's success. There's a Wordle clone for mathematicians, music lovers, and Pokemon fans. I'm especially fond of the last one, myself.

This isn't even the first time the New York Times has sicced the metaphorical hounds on a game inspired by Wordle. The newspaper has proven to be immensely protective of what has become one of its most marketable investments, filing DMCAs against many Wordle-inspired games. If there's an -le at the en??d of it??s title, the game may as well paint a target on itself.

Fortunately for Worldle fans, McDonald told the BBC that he's not letting his game go down without a fight, telling the interviewer that "worst-case scenario, we'll change the name, but I think we'll be okay.�/p>

The post The New York Tim??es is suing another Wordle off-sho?ot appeared first on Destructoid.

Because sure, why not

Wordle has seen huge success, as it went from cute and engaging daily game to overnight craze. It's now owned by the New York Times, and the Times is partnering with Hasbro now to make a Wordle board game.

CNN reports that the New York Times and Hasbro are collaborating on Wordle: The Party Game, a board game adaptation of the online version.

In the board game version, players compete with each other to guess words the other players have scribbled. Rather than guessing the word solo against the computer, you're trying to guess the other team's chosen five-letter word. It's kind of like Mastermind or Battleship, but with words.

There are a few different game types out of th?e box, including a ?"fast mode" that involves a clock and team variations. I also dig the dry-erase boards and markers, so it's easy to just re-use the same board over and over again.

Wordle: The Party Game is currently live for pre-order on Amazon, the Hasbro site, and soon on Target. The board game goes for $19.99 and will ship o??n October 1, 2022.

Guess the secret phrase

While strange, it isn't all too surprising. Board games are increasingly popular as of late, and board game adaptations are no different. Look at how many video games have been turned into tabletop versions over the years.

With the popularity of Wordle, I imagine a Worlde board game will absolutely sell like hotcakes. And now I'm just curious if other popular online games are soon to be adapted, too. How much longer until newfound Heardle owner Spotify turns the audio game into a board game?

The post Wordle is getting a board game appeared first on Destructoid.

It was only a matter of time

At this point, I would wager to say that Wordle's clones are just as well-known as the game itself. Just about every variation you can think of exists, from guessing swear words to songs to geography �it's all there, but probably not for long. The New York Times' acquisition of Wordle rocked the internet back at the end of January, and fans of the game have been apprehensive at best since then, after bemoaning supposed changes that the New York Times made to the game that have yet to be confirmed. Either way, everyone is kind of on edge, and understandably so. We've been seeing changes slowly rolling in from the journalistic juggernaut, the most recent being that they demanded the shutdown of a popular Wordle offshoot, Wordle Archive, as reported by Ars Technica.

The website was popular among fans of the modern classic of a word game, as it archived p?revious days' puzzles and allowed players to re?turn to them as much as they wanted. Wordle Archive had been up since the start of January, but it was officially taken down last week. When players logged on to play through some old puzzles, they were instead met with a message that read, "Sadly, the New York Times has requested that the Wordle Archive be taken down."

A representative from the New York Times also put out a statement, as they told Ars Tec??hnica, "The usage was unauthorized, and we were in touch with them. We don't plan to comment beyond that."

As much of a bummer as this is, it's entirely within New York Times' rights to do so as the legal owners of Wordle. Copyright law can get a bit fuzzy when it comes down to copycats, but the fact that World Archive used the exact same name as the original game meant tha??t t?here was no room for ambiguity.

The future of other clones, like any using the "-dle" suffix, is unclear, although part of me has to wonder if the New York Times is looking for a way to take those down, too.
_{[Featured Image Source: PC Gamer]}

The post New York T???imes takes down the popular Wordle Archive appeared first on Destructoid.