Can you say that in Afrikaans? — Move over Wordle, Wortel is taking over

Wordle, the browser-based game that has the world in a chokehold, has an Afrikaans version called Wortel.

The viral game, created by Josh Wardle, had the world buzzing late last year before it was acquired by the New York Times earlier this month. 

In short, it has us like:

Over the past few months, it has seen many spin-offs such as Nerdle, Lewdle, Taylordle and SA’s own Afrikaans version Wortel.

How is the game different from the original Wordle? It works exactly like the original except it is all in Afrikaans.

Wortel, which translates to “carrot”, gives you six potential guesses to unmask one five-letter word. A green square indicates the right letter is in the right place.

Orange means a right letter is in the wrong place and grey means the letter is not in the word.

Speaking to MyBroadband, Francois Botha, who developed the game, said he wanted to make it available to an Afrikaans audience. 

He said the feedback has been positive even though his version is more difficult.

“A linguist would have to confirm, but I think it’s because English has a larger vocabulary and the way Afrikaans words are formed,” he said. 

“For example, ‘meeue’ (gulls) is a valid guess although no-one would really use it, as it does not eliminate many incorrect letters.”

On social media, many expressed how excited they were with the local version of the game. 

Here is a snapshot of what they had to say: