» Absurdle: The Adversarial Wordle That Changes the Word Mid-Game

Event Info
Discussion

Absurdle is a variation of Wordle which makes it as hard as possible to win. In Wordle, there is a single answer word which you have to guess. However, with Absurdle, there isn’t a single answer to find! Instead, there is a list of every valid word and the game filters down to a subset of words so that you can never guess the correct answer. Essentially, the game is trying to corner itself into a position where it has no choice but to pick a single valid answer.

How it Works

When you guess a word in Absurdle, instead of comparing your guess to a single answer, it categorises all the possible remaining words by the pattern of colors they would get. Then, it picks the most likely group (the one with the most words) and gives you that pattern.

This means that Absurdle is actively trying to stop you from winning. It will always give you as little information as possible. For example, if you guess a word that would result in many green tiles, it will try to give you a pattern that only implicates a small number of words.

Example

Let’s say there are 200 possible words in Absurdle. You guess CRANE. The game will work out how many words would result in each possible color pattern.

All Gray: 80 words

1 Yellow: 70 words

2 Green + 1 Yellow: 30 words

Other patterns: Less words.

Absurdle then picks the pattern with the most words – All Gray (80). As such, you get all gray tiles. The game is actively choosing to give you as little information as possible!

How to Win

You have to make it so there is only one possible word left. Once this happens, there is nothing Absurdle can do. Every possible word will give you the same feedback so you will either guess the answer or your guess will be invalid. As such, the game has to give you truthful feedback.

To win, you need to:

Try to eliminate whole categories of words.

Try to guess words that will narrow down the list of possible words as much as possible, even if they aren’t the answer.

You will likely need more than 6 guesses. Since there is no limit.

Try to guess words that will force the game to give you specific information.

A skilled player will be able to solve Absurdle in 4 guesses or less. An average player will need between 8-15 guesses.

Why it’s Hard

Whilst Wordle is challenging due to vocabulary and logic, Absurdle is challenging due to the adversarial nature of the game. It is like playing 20 Questions with an opponent who can change the animal they are thinking of after each question as long as it fits with all of their answers.

If you have knowledge of game theory, you’ll realise this is a minimax problem. You’re trying to choose guesses that will minimise the maximum number of possible words the game can have.

Benefits

Absurdle is a great way to truly understand Wordle strategies. Since you’re playing against an optimising opponent, you’ll be heavily penalised for making any non-optimal guesses. Players who can survive Absurdle with a low amount of guesses will have learned to select words based on information theory. This will directly improve their performance on regular Wordle puzzles.

Where to Play

You can play wordleunlimited.dev. There is no login required. There is also no daily limit since there is no set answer. The game is fully browser based so can be played on mobile and desktop.