‘Wordle’ Can Now Be Played On 30-Year-Old Windows Computers

Image via Dialup.net

Since its rise to glory, there have been multiple incarnations of Wordle, including a kids’ version and a stressful battle royale game. All of these require modern devices to load, however—an inherent quality that comes with them being built in today’s computers.

If nostalgia is what you seek, the programmer behind a new but old-timey website called Dialup.net has created a version that can run on PCs from the early 90s. More specifically, Windle for Windows is built for Windows 3.1, an update introduced in 1992.

To help the software get there, the creator actually developed and played it on a clunky computer from the era, Ars Technica reports. It was crucial to build it on the real deal because a simulator wouldn’t trigger buggy issues like a system hang from squeezing an entire dictionary into the 66 MHz processor.

Image via Dialup.net

Windle’s retro aesthetic of bezeled windows and silver blends seamlessly with the UI of built-in game offerings of the 90s, like Minesweeper and JezzBall—and rightfully so. Wordle’s peaceful gameplay does fit into the more chill entertainment options of the time.

Aside from an actual Windows 3.1-powered PC, the game—in its native 16-bit form—can also be launched via a virtual machine or a DOSBox. There’s also a 32-bit download for modern 64-bit computers that run on Windows 10 and Windows 11, but the effect won’t quite be the same.

You can install Windle for Windows for free here.

[via Ars Technica and Dialup.net, images via Dialup.net]