Unpacking the psychological science behind the popular puzzle game that's taken the internet by storm.
At the same time, the game’s sporadic availability means that there’s less potential to become addicted to it. “Sometimes people play these games with some sense of guilt, because it’s always there,” says Baldwin, pointing to games likewhere players are constantly bombarded with notifications for new achievements to unlock. “The one-and-done aspect [makes Wordle] a scarce resource, so we know going into it that we can play it safely.
But beyond that, continues Baldwin, the game doesn’t just let you see where you stand relative to everyone else on social media. “Because we’re also playing with our friends, we can also feel a sense of vicarious pride when our friends do well,” he says, a psychological concept called . “We can see our friends succeeding, and also maybe see that we’re not the absolute worst [at the game.]”There’s another reason that sharing our Wordle grids with others — and seeing them shared back — feels so good. Baldwin says it’s a striking example of what psychologists call the, or our need to align our own internal, subjective experiences with the experiences of others.
Baldwin notes that this sense of validation might be striking a particularly resonant chord at this moment in time. “We’re all craving that,” he says. “Differences define where we’re at right now in society. It seems just impossible to overcome — can’t we agree on anything at all? Maybe Wordle is also just connecting a little bit with that strong need. If we can’t agree on masks, maybe we can at least all agree that Wordle is a fun thing to do.
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