He made a different game called Wordle 5 years ago and now he's donating the profits

The Wordle app logo on the Wordle web game board
(Image credit: PowerLanguage and Steven Cravotta)

If you tried to download Wordle on your iPhone in the last few weeks, you may have grabbed the wrong game - but it still benefited a good cause.

Wordle is a daily word game that has exploded in popularity in recent months, and its creator Josh Wardle is deliberately keeping the game simple, ad-free, and only available in your browser. That hasn't prevented people from trying to find it in the iOS App Store, as the creator of an old game that also happens to be named Wordle discovered.

App developer Steven Cravotta shared a Twitter thread telling the story of his Wordle, which he created five years ago and had largely forgotten about. Forgotten, at least, until he checked his App Store analytics a week ago and saw it had taken in more than 150,000 downloads in the space of a few days - seemingly all from people who were looking for the other Wordle. Since Cravotta's game is set up to generate money with in-app purchases, it also meant an unexpected windfall. 

Rather than simply accepting the monetary rewards of being in the right place at the right time, Cravotta then reached out to the other Wordle's Wardle and asked if they could mutually choose a place to donate the proceeds. Eventually they decided on Boost, a charity that provides free after-school tutoring and mentorship to kids in Oakland, California.

Usually the stories of games being mistaken for other games don't have nearly so heartwarming of an ending. Let's savor this one while we can.

For some great games that are made to be played on iOS, check out our guide to the best iPhone games.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

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