The New York Times crossword app has now integrated the widely popular web -based word game.

The free-to-play web-based game developed by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle called Wordle is now available in the The New York Times Crossword app on iOS and Android devices. The fun word-guessing game joins the array of addictive The New York Times Crossword variants such as Spelling Bee and more. Users who enjoy Wordle on desktop and mobile website can still continue to do so as well.

According to The Verge, Wordle became an instant hit when it was first released in October 2021. In January, The New York Times acquired the game from Wardle, with the massive media company seeing a huge spike in new subscribers during its earnings meeting in May. As of July, the company said that around 10% of "active" players have played over 145 Wordle games.

The New York Times Builds Upon Wordle Following Acquisition

The New York Times's acquisition of Wordle did not come without some snags, however, as the game's users speculated that it had become harder and that some of their streaks were broken. The New York Times said they were tweaking the game since its acquisition and in April had added the WordleBot for users who play on the web.

The purpose of WordleBot was to help players analyze each puzzle so they could determine the best starting word for the game. The New York Times then improved on the WordleBot so it could recommend a new start word, calling its improved version the WordleBot 2.0. Currently, WorldeBot is only available to some subscribers.

But that's not the only thing in store for Wordle. In July, CBS News reported that The New York Times had teamed up with Hasbro to develop a Wordle Board Game, which is set to be released in October. The media company reportedly acquired Wordle for an amount in the "low seven figures" and is set to make more money with its addition to The New York Times Crossword app and the upcoming board game.

Read Also: Wordle Has Been Acquired by The New York Times, Will 'Initially' Be Free For Everyone: 3 Other Word-Guessing Games To Try

How Wordle Works

Wordle's online version enables players up to six chances to guess a certain five-letter word. If a chosen letter is in the word, but in the wrong place, the box turns yellow. If the letter is in the right spot, the box turns green.

The same concept remains in the upcoming Wordle Board Game, but players will have to compete against each other for points. The fewer guesses a player makes per word, the fewer points they receive. The player with the lowest score at the end of the game wins. Something that can make Wordle more appealing is that there's an element of luck. Because you need to guess all the letters from the start, you can't use a simple tool like Unscrambled Words to find the answer. Even with the help of WordleBot, you might be able to come up with better strategies for choosing the start words, but the truth is that there are around 10,000 possible words in the Wordle list but only about 20% of them are active for each puzzle. 

The New York Times head of games Jonathan Knight remarked how Wordle "truly brought us all together."

The New York Times' first quarter financial results showed just how Wordle drove the company's best quarter yet in terms of net subscribers for games, TechCrunch reported. Since acquiring Wordle, The Times had also advertised its other games through the word game.

Related Article: A Wordle Multiplayer Board Game is Going to be Part of Your Party Games Soon