He chooses a different person himself every evening for a new match the next day.
“It’s humbling to think that so many people play every month,” he said.
“I didn’t expect it to have this kind of success at all.”
He’s not the only one riding on the coattails of Wordle’s success. Others include:
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Quordle, a set of four words to guess at the same time
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Nerdle, a math-based challenge
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Heardle, which is based on identifying music
There is also another game called Worldle, which involves identifying countries by their outlines.
The New York Times declined to say whether it planned to pursue them as well.
Speaking to the BBC last year, head of gaming Jonathan Knight said imitation was “the best form of flattery”.
“We’ve always been good with [similar games] They believe they help keep the game fresh and lively for people. He said after that.
But this isn’t the first time The New York Times has turned to the courts to protect its awards game.
In March 2024, a Shetland-accented version of Wordle said it would be shut down following a copyright challenge from the publishing group.
Professor David Levine, a copyright expert at Elon University School of Law, suggested that the writing may be on the wall for McDonald’s project as well.
He said the one-letter difference between the two names could be a problem, and added that there were also “other aspects of potential consumer confusion.”
“I’ve got the pronunciation,” he told the BBC.
“I mean I have to make an effort here to say Wordle versus Worldle.”
MacDonald said he was disappointed by the legal action taken against him, but insisted he was not afraid.
“I’m just a one-man operation here, so I was kind of surprised,” he said.
“Worst-case scenario, we’ll change the name, but I think we’ll be fine.”
Additional reporting by Francesca Hashemi
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