The Fun of a Game
When I was growing up my dad taught me a game called Jotto. Most people probably never heard of Jotto but it’s a word game with two players where each player writes a five-letter secret word down on a piece of paper and attempts to guess the other player’s word. Like Wordle, you guess a word and then find out how many letters in that word align with your components secret word. Unlike Wordle, you don’t get to know if the correct letters are in the correct places. Whoever guesses the opponent’s word first wins. I’ll always remember how excited I was to finally beat my dad. Over twenty years later and I still remember what the word was. Playing Jotto was one way my father connected with his father and then he used it to connect with me.
A game can leave people feeling bonded without either person even realizing that’s what is happening. Several people have told me about how they complete Wordle every day and then share the results with either family members or friends. Sometimes these texts can lead to further conversations and suddenly people are talking more regularly than they normally would. Other times the shared results are where it stops but even that simple new daily interaction marks a shift in the relationship. Suddenly, people are stopping to think about that other person. Stopping to make sure they send their results to him or her. And the person receiving those texts are doing the same. Whether or not it’s spoken people feel like they’re being thought of because of this seemingly little gesture taking place.
I learned about Wordle from a friend during the pandemic. I think that is what happened for a lot of people. It was a way of connecting and having something in common while everyone managed what was going on in their life. People who couldn’t get together but wanted to find a way to still have fun started playing virtual game nights during the pandemic as well. This was a way to “see” people without talking about how difficult the world felt. Even though we can see each other in person again there is still physical distance that exists when friends and family live in states far away from us. Wouldn’t it be nice to keep these little gestures going as a way of feeling connected to those we care about. Even if you’re sick of sharing Wordle results, there are plenty of other fun games out there.
