Heardle is a new Wordle spin-off for music fans

Virgin Radio

7 Mar 2022, 10:26

We’ve already seen a few alternative versions of the global sensation that is Wordle, and now there’s a new one aimed at music fans.

Following the online word guessing game, Wordle, we’ve seen Quordle - which is basically the same but players have to solve four puzzles at the same time, Worldle - a geography-based alternative, and even Weezle - in which players try to guess Weezer lyrics in six tries. 

Now, Heardle is here to offer a slightly broader music quiz than just Weezer lyrics, and the key difference is that this one uses audio clips as clues. In the game, players have six attempts to correctly guess the song of the day using what they hear, rather than what they see.

The game, which you can play at Heardle.app, initially gives players a very short clip of a song and then invites them to guess what it is. WIth each incorrect guess, the clip gets longer. If you don’t get it after six guesses, you lose, and the correct answer is revealed. If you’ve ever seen the TV show Name That Tune, then you’ve got a decent idea of the premise of this new online game. 

The other difference between Heardle and Wordle, aside from the fact that one involves guessing a word and the other is about working out a tune, is that on Heardle, you don’t have to guess each time, but can skip through the sounds until you reckon you’ve got it.

Just like Wordle, there is one puzzle a day, and similarly to the OG game, you can show off to all of your Twitter followers about how clever you are, without giving away the day’s answer.

The game's website says that “each Heardle is semi-randomly plucked from a long list of popularly streamed artists.”

Heardle is not affiliated with Wordle and, the creators say on their website that the game is “a respectful homage to Wordle, with a musical twist".

The original word guessing game, Wordle, was launched late last year by software engineer Josh Wardle, and was recently taken over by The New York Times Company.