Creator

Josh Wardle

Creator of Wordle
Playlin Awards Finalist

Independent game designer. Originally made Wordle for his partner, Palak Shah. Sold to The New York Times in 2022 for a low seven-figure sum. Built Parseword in 2026.

Josh's games generally run from under 2 min to 5 min, quick hits, all of them.

Signature

Word Games
Crosswords
Cryptic Crosswords
Daily reset
Solo play

Find Josh Wardle on the web

Notable press

· 3 mentions

NME · Mar 2026

‘Wordle’ creator launches new puzzle game ‘Parseword’
The New York Times Company · Jan 2022

The New York Times Company acquires Wordle
Smithsonian Magazine · Jan 2022

Why the Online Game Wordle Went Viral, According to Psychology

Collaborators

Chris Dary on Parseword
Matt Lee on Parseword

Games by Josh Wardle

· 2 games

NYT Games Finalist

Wordle

Free 2–5 min

by NYT Games

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries.

Indie

Parseword

Free Under 2 min

with Chris Dary, Matt Lee

Solve a daily cryptic crossword clue by the creator of Wordle.

Interesting facts

Origin of the Emoji Share Grid

New Zealander Elizabeth S. (@irihapeta on X) invented the original Wordle emoji grid as a way of sharing her game results with others in her Wordle club on December 5, 2021.

Affiliations

NYT Games on Wordle