Wordle is, for a few weeks, the fashion game on social networks. Dozens of clones in the iOS and Android stores have tried to be confused with the word game for the web, but there is a case in which an application is real and has been available for years. Its author has seen an unexpected success and has promised to donate all the profits made by the wave of new purchases to charity.
I built an app called Wordle when I was 18 mostly for fun, to sharpen my coding skillz, and maybe make a quick buck. It didnt quite take off like my previous app, Grid, did. So after a few months and ~100k total downloads, I stopped updating and promoting the app. Steven (@StevenCravotta) January 12, 2022
While Josh Wardle, who made the current phenomenon, claims that it will remain free and ad-free, on iOS we can find a game with the same name that Steven Cravotta created five years ago. It was just another game on the huge App Store market that Cravotta developed when he was 18 “mainly for fun, to hone my coding skills and maybe make some money.” It did not repeat the success of its previous app, Grid, so after a few months and 100,000 downloads he stopped updating and promoting it.
“Their user base was down to 1 or 2 downloads a day for the last 4 years…Until a week ago when I walked onto my desk and was shocked by what I saw.” At first I thought it was bot moves, but then I realized it was downloads from players who thought it was Wardle’s game. “It received attention and soon several major media outlets published articles about Wordle, but none clearly specified that it was a browser game, so naturally people went to the App Store to look for Wordle“. In a week it was downloaded 200,000 times and the rate does not drop.
Donate the benefits of this confusion
Instead of using this coincidence to his advantage, Cravotta asked for some organization to donate these proceeds to; the chosen one was Boost, a tutoring school for boys in Oakland, California. Wardle echoed the gesture that is expected to have “a real impact” by helping the Boost program.
Can confirm this is true. @StevenCravotta reached out to me unprompted and asked about donating the proceeds. He’s a class act and you should follow him. https://t.co/7Xeixe6VHh Josh Wardle (@powerlanguish) January 14, 2022
Reference-vandal.elespanol.com
