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 Originally made Wordle for his partner, Palak Shah.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

x.com
bluesky
powerlanguage.co.uk
wikipedia
github
linkedin
reddit
email

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.

Affiliations

NYT Games on Wordle