Why ‘Connections’ Has a Chokehold On Me
Move over Wordle, I have a new crush.
I’ve been a fan of finding the five-letter word-of-the-day since Wordle hit the big leagues in 2021. It really stood out as one of the few inherently wholesome daily rituals in a doomscrolling, COVID-riddled world.
Plus there’s something so elegant about millions of people solving for a single answer—the same answer—every day. Wordle communities, superstitions, rituals and etiquette have emerged organically. There are people who always start with ADIEU despite the data proving it’s not that effective. Others, like me, prefer to pick a word that matches the day, like PARTY on December 31 or BUNNY during Easter. My mum once shared a screenshot of a completed Wordle at 8 am, to which she received a message in all caps rebuking her for such uncivilised behaviour. Not to mention the game’s insane talkability. A friend accused me of cheating when I guessed CAULK in three turns, but I swear it’s because I had been binge-watching Mr. Kate home DIY content all that week.
Wordle… an almost perfect game.
Then came along Wordle’s younger sister, Connections.
The maddening, rewarding and hilarious sibling that takes all of Wordle’s best qualities but adds on an infuriating twist. If you aren’t familiar, each day you get given a grid of 16 words and you have to select four groups of four based on a commonality. They come in varying degrees of difficulty and insanity. Play it here and you’ll see what I mean.
Here’s why I think Connections may be one of the most brilliant games to be designed:
Daily ritual: Similar to Wordle, it’s an easy habit to form and add to your daily routine. Some people enjoy it on the bus, I do it first thing in the morning, some do it with their partners in bed at night. (I promise I’m still talking about the NYT game.)
Bliss point: Having just one chance to play a single game a day is the perfect set point to be satisfied, without the guilt of spending 2 hours playing Kwazy Kupcakes.
Memorability: Games based on words and concepts are far more memorable than number puzzles. Imagine saying to a friend, ‘And then I realised the blank spot was a 7 and I solved the whole Sudoku after that!’ Doesn’t quite work
Relatability: A singular solution for the whole world and a shared struggle or disbelief about the day’s puzzle increases relatability and talkability.
Intermittent reward schedule: This is where Connections really deviates from Wordle. Wordle is ultimately not that hard and very much based on your starting word. Connections on the other hand swings from the easy (types of sea animals, pieces of clothing) to the actually insane (words that are countries with an A added). This means that the chance of the ‘reward’ for our brain (solving it) varies wildly from day-to-day, when we do solve it we feel very clever and that keeps us addicted. Fun fact: this is how situationships work.
Controversy: There’s a whole subreddit dedicated to the game, with the absolute outcry over ‘Outback’ being included as a fast food chain. I think NYT Games purposefully creates very controversial categories from time to time create earned media, but not enough to make everyone give up.
Is Connections a game? Yes. But it’s also so much more.
