Wordle’s viral success has taken over social media in recent months as friends, family, and followers love to share their achievements with each other. Players only compete indirectly, measuring their personal successes against the results of fellowWordleplayers as shared through social media. Due toWordleplayers self-reporting their results, there’s always been a culture of cheating surrounding it – or at least a speculated culture of cheating. A new study has some interesting findings on the subject, with perhaps fewerWordlecheaters than expected.
The website Solitaired released a study that claims to have surveyed more than 1,000 Americans who playWordleabout their behaviors and beliefs regarding the game. The survey included a question asking ifWordleplayers cheatwhile playing the game. The result was that more than 1 in 10Wordleplayers say that they have cheated, but only 2% of cheaters admit that they do it every day. In fact, 91% of cheaters say they only do it once or twice a week.
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It may also come as a surprise how admittedWordlecheaters do their cheating. 48% of cheaters say they have looked the answer up online. On the other hand, 42% of cheaters say that they use a word list, which doesn’t provide an exact solution but can help players parse down their choices.
As a result, the worst kind of cheating inWordleseems to be surprisingly rare. Only around 10% ofWordleplayers say they cheat, and if they do, 91% only do it once or twice a week. In addition, when they do cheat, only around half of them look up the full solution. If the survey is to be believed, most users thatWordleplayerssee on social media are being completely honest about their results. Perhaps that will be comforting to someWordleplayers.
Of course, this survey has the same flaw as most other surveys; it relies onWordleplayers to be honest about the way they play the game. And, as manyWordleplayers likely understand, cheaters aren’t necessarily the most trustworthy people to ask whether they’re cheating or not. That could mean there are more than1 out of 10Wordleplayerscheating day-to-day.
The number ofWordlecheaters ultimately shouldn’t matter to players, though.Wordleis a game that players complete on their own. Everyone’s accountable to themselves, and if that means using a word list or scoping out the solution to get a happy feeling from a one-guess solution, then that’s that. The gamewill be back with anewWordlepuzzlethe next day.
Wordleis available now on PC and mobile devices.
