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 fellow Wordle players as shared through social media. Due to Wordle players 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 fewer Wordle cheaters than expected.
The website Solitaired released a study that claims to have surveyed more than 1,000 Americans who play Wordle about their behaviors and beliefs regarding the game. The survey included a question asking if Wordle players cheat while playing the game. The result was that more than 1 in 10 Wordle players 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.
It may also come as a surprise how admitted Wordle cheaters 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 in Wordle seems to be surprisingly rare. Only around 10% of Wordle players 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 that Wordle players see on social media are being completely honest about their results. Perhaps that will be comforting to some Wordle players.
Of course, this survey has the same flaw as most other surveys; it relies on Wordle players to be honest about the way they play the game. And, as many Wordle players likely understand, cheaters aren't necessarily the most trustworthy people to ask whether they're cheating or not. That could mean there are more than 1 out of 10 Wordle players cheating day-to-day.
The number of Wordle cheaters ultimately shouldn't matter to players, though. Wordle is 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 game will be back with a new Wordle puzzle the next day.
Wordle is available now on PC and mobile devices.
Source: Solitaired