The creator of the original Wordle app donates the proceeds to charity

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Wordle, the hit game of early 2022, is so popular that the creator of a completely different game, also called Wordle !, is seeing a huge surge in business and donating the proceeds of its app to charity.

Steven Cravotta created an app he dubbed Wordle! when he was 18, however, he has languished for the past five years. “I created an app called Wordle when I was 18, mostly for fun, to hone my programming skills, and maybe to make a quick buck,” Cravotta explained in a Twitter thread. “It didn’t take off like my previous app, Grid. So after a few months and about 100,000 total downloads, I stopped updating and promoting the app. “

He went on to explain that for the past four years, his version of Wordle, a timer-based word game, has averaged one or two downloads per day. In the past week, that number has skyrocketed to nearly 200,000, thanks to the success of Josh Wardle’s popular pun.

Cravotta tells Rolling Stone that he was initially puzzled by the increase in downloads. “My first reaction was that all the downloads were fake,” he says. “A quick Google search was enough to discover that I was wrong and that people were mistaking my app for Josh’s.”

Wordle, the new game, is played on an Internet browser rather than an app. However, Cravotta’s app has seen a huge surge in downloads, with many people assuming its app is the game of the spirit of the times. Once he understood what was happening, Cravotta decided to contact Wardle.

“I’ve read Josh’s Wordle articles and respect his mission to keep the game free with no ads or tracking,” says Cravotta. “In the spirit of that, I thought we could turn this lucky scenario into something extraordinary. Both of our apps are puns, so I figured we should donate the profits to a literacy-type organization. I contacted Josh and we worked together to agree to donate the proceeds to Boost mobile. “

Funds raised from the Wordle app will go to Boost! West Oakland, a nonprofit that focuses on youth literacy in Oakland, California.

Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn, initially created Wordle for his partner, who loves puns. It launched online gaming last October and has since become a cultural phenomenon.

“I think people like that there’s this thing online that’s just plain funny,” Wardle told The New York Times. “He’s not trying to do something shady with your data or your eyes. It’s just a fun game. “

Cravotta, who recently developed an app called Puff Count, which helps users stop vaping, is just as much a Wordle fan as the rest of us. “I personally play Wordle, every day,” he confirms. “It’s a well built and very addicting game. Wishes all success in the world for Josh.

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