Can playing Wordle boost your brain? (2024)

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Can playing Wordle boost your brain? ›

That doesn't mean these games are totally useless. Besides just being fun, games like Wordle engage the brain's executive functions and help teach the brain to resist distractions, Jaeggi said. “Your whole lifestyle would help maintain cognitive health as you age,” Jaeggi said.

“There are many cognitive benefits of playing Wordle. Regular play can enhance brain function by stimulating critical thinking, problem-solving skills and memory retention.” Guessing the words correctly is no doubt a buzz – especially if you can do it in fewer than six tries!

In conclusion, challenging your brain with Wordle and other word games can help boost your problem-solving skills, lower depression and anxiety rates, and improve memory and attention. Your mental health can also benefit from word games; it can help you decompress and give stress relief.

While there is likely some correlation between aptitude at Wordle and IQ, says Ted Nettelbeck, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Adelaide, “I would be surprised if it was particularly strong”. How smart are you if you got it in three?

"Studies have shown this over and over. It can improve cognition, memory and sleep, as well as reduce anxiety and depression — all things that promote brain health."

"So someone with good working memory will find Wordle easier, although someone with poorer working memory could get around this by using pen and paper to work through the alternatives." However, there is the other main factor—cognitive style.

The US is ranked #18 in the world for Wordle, with a national average of 3.92. The American state with the best Wordle average is North Dakota (3.65). The US city with the best Wordle scores is Saint Paul, Minnesota, with an average of 3.51. Probability of guessing correctly in two tries is 6.4785%.

Winning Wordle—the daily online word game currently captivating the internet—requires a healthy dose of luck.

But statistics show that, on average, 0.2 to 0.5 per cent of people guess right on the first try – between five and 12 times more than chance would suggest. Put another way: Of the roughly 2 million daily Wordle players, about 860 people should be guessing the right word on their first try.

Are you smart if you can solve Wordle? ›

If you can consistently get Wordle in three guesses, you are pretty darn good. A score of three is solidly above average, and it is certainly nothing to frown at. Especially with harder words such as “cynic,” “vivid,” or “swill,” getting it in three is very good. Three takes skill, finesse, and intellect.

For now, anyone can play Wordle. The game's relative ease of access makes it a draw for players from any age group or demographic. “The rules are few and the overall objective is relatively easy to comprehend, which lends to notions of instant gratification,” Michael Toma, a cognitive psychologist, tells CNBC Make It.

Puzzles require learned skills beyond just innate intelligence. Experience and practice with the specific skills involved in puzzling, like scanning techniques, pattern matching, and spatial manipulation, can offset limitations in raw intellectual horsepower. Intelligence alone doesn't predict puzzle prowess.

Besides just being fun, games like Wordle engage the brain's executive functions and help teach the brain to resist distractions, Jaeggi said. “Your whole lifestyle would help maintain cognitive health as you age,” Jaeggi said.

Even if solving the daily Wordle or your favorite crossword won't protect you from age-related cognitive decline, your brain still gets benefits from the exercise, says Michael Vilensky, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at Ohio State University in Columbus.

We enjoy playing them for the 'eureka' moment of working out a solution and it increases the production of Dopamine. This chemical is a brain neurotransmitter that allows messages to be sent between nerve cells and influences our experience of pleasure and improves brain function.”