It's not hard to see the latest browser game, Wordle, has taken the Internet by storm. Players are given a five-letter word to solve daily, with six attempts to figure out what the word is, using the remaining letters and words that have been used. Once players solve or fail a puzzle, they won't be able to play until the next day. The game's simple yet fun concept has allowed Wordle to flourish, seeing widespread viral success. Ever since its initial release, it has inspired fans to create various clones of the game to be made.
These Wordle variants have cropped up all over the Internet, usually created by independent programmers similar to the game's original creator Josh Wardle. They all have something different about them, with some testing audiences on their knowledge of certain school subjects, to more specific topics like Pokemon names, or even showing how Wordle would look like if it was a retro console game. One fan created a version of Wordle that is not only retro-fitted to look like it was playable on the Game Boy, but also a custom cartridge of the game.
This Game Boy Wordle clone, known as GB-Wordyl, was posted on the itch.io website that contains many of the original game's functions. This includes game statistics and controls that would be workable with the Game Boy's limitations. The page contains a ROM file that can be run in a Game Boy emulator or played online via a browser. Not only that, this game is also playable on Game Boy hardware or the Analogue Pocket system, where the itch.io page also contains a link to ROM that is compatible with the system.
While there have been multiple requests to put this Wordle clone onto actual cartridges, it doesn't seem to be the case from its original creator. One fan, however, known as muslar2020, posted to the r/wordle subreddit that they managed to create a custom Game Boy cartridge that utilized the ROM and could be played on the intended hardware. The cartridge even used the same style of how games were printed at the time, along with the original logos.
Considering the Analogue Pocket can run Game Boy cartridges, along with photos on the itch.io page that showed off the system running the ROM, it's possible other physical Game Boy cartridges could be produced in the future. For now though, fans who wish to play this retro-styled Wordle will have to settle for the emulated experiences.
Wordle is now available for free, playable on the game's official website.
Source: itch.io