> While some have traced Wordle to Lingo, a game show that started in 1987, they’ve missed an earlier implementation: WORD was published in 101 Computer Games by Digital Equipment Corp. in 1973
Which comes after the board game Mastermind, which was created in 1970 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game))
And the Mastermind variant "Word Mastermind" came out in 1972:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5662/word-mastermind
But Word Mastermind (like regular Mastermind) only tells you how many letters are in the correct spot, and how many are present but not in the correct spot. Whereas Wordle tells you specifically which letters fall into those categories. So it's not quite the same. (That's why Wordle only gives you 6 guesses, while Word Mastermind has 10 rows.)
Ok but in regular Mastermind, you get a white key peg for every code peg that is present but not in the correct spot.
Wow! That box cover image immediately brings me back to digging through the family board game box kept under my parents' bed. Vividly remember it, it was one of those mysterious/never-played games.
And JOTTO, a version that even used words like Wordle, is from 1955!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jotto
Everything is a Remix https://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series
Yeah, a friend of mine mentioned the connection between Wordle and Mastermind which explained to me instantly why I really liked Mastermind (and even wrote an early Windows version) and Wordle--while being generally pretty indifferent to word games even though I'm a writer.