Wordle, the game that spawned countless clones, and made its creator a millionaire, is now available to play in virtual reality. I don’t quite understand why anyone would want to play this simple word game in VR, but what do I know?
As announced in a post on the Meta Quest Blog, the New York Times’ Wordle game is now available to play on Meta Quest headsets. Anyone who owns a Meta Quest 2, 3, or Pro can grab the Wordle app, and guess the 5-letter word of the day in a virtual reality environment.
While releasing this game in VR doesn’t seem like the most obvious choice, Jonathan Knight, the General Manager of NYT Games explained the thinking behind the release:
We’re always looking for unique and creative opportunities to reach audiences with our games. This collaboration reflects our embrace of innovative technologies and exploration of new formats and experiences, like mixed reality, to bring our games to life. Wordle is the perfect choice for this virtual environment, given its simple, user-friendly interface that audiences everywhere have come to love.
It’s Just Wordle, but Played In Virtual Reality
As you may have already guessed, the Meta Quest version of Wordle is just Wordle but played in VR. Exactly as you would in the version available on the NYT Games app and on the web, you get six tries to guess the 5-letter word of the day.
The letters change color to indicate their presence and position within the word. If a letter changes to green, it’s in the correct position, while if it changes to yellow, it’s present in the word, but currently in the wrong position.
Wordle is a brilliantly simple word game that anyone can play. And millions of us do exactly that on a daily basis. But does a game as simple as this benefit from the VR treatment?
Who Asked for This? And What’s the Point?
Someone clearly thought that it was a good idea to bring Wordle to a virtual reality environment. And, as Wordle is being used to sell NYT Games as a whole, I guess it makes sense to make the game available on as many platforms as possible.
However, I can’t imagine anyone actively strapping their Meta Quest headset on for the couple of minutes a day it takes to beat Wordle. Especially when the VR element doesn’t add anything new or exciting to the gameplay. But I have been wrong occasionally.
