To play the game, users are challenged to guess the daily five-letter word in six tries or fewer, using a color-coded system. Green tiles show the letter is correct and in the right place; yellow tiles show the letter is in the word, though not in the right spot; and gray tiles show the letter is not in the word whatsoever.

The word-based game, created by software engineer Josh Wardle, exploded onto the scene in October 2021. Three months later, in January 2022, The New York Times acquired it for a sum that's never been made public. Today, it's the newspaper's most popular word game.