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Daily ‘Artle’ Game Is Like Wordle But With Works Of Art

Daily ‘Artle’ Game Is Like Wordle But With Works Of Art
Posted at 12:40 PM, May 23, 2022
and last updated 2022-05-23 14:42:19-04

When Wordle came out last fall, the web-based word game quickly became a viral sensation. The game, which Josh Wardle created, is now owned and published by The New York Times, and it’s still widely played by word-game enthusiasts everywhere.

Now, the National Gallery of Art is hoping to create similar love for their art-based take on the online guessing game.

Whereas Worlde gives you six chances to guess a five-letter word, Artle gives you four chances to correctly guess a legendary artist based on examples of their artwork (such as The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai, below).

Katsushika Hokusai painting The Great Wave Off Kanagawa
Wikimedia Commons

Don’t be dismayed if you don’t know some of the artists right away. The point of Artle is not to know every beautiful artwork by sight, but rather to help introduce the public to art they may not have seen before and to help foster a love of art.

“Artle is a quick daily brain teaser. But it is less about the challenge and more about the discovery,” Steven Garbarino, senior product manager at the museum, told Smithsonian Magazine. “At the end, you can click through to learn more about the artist and artworks, and continue exploring to prepare yourself for future Artles.”

You might spot an image you recognize even though you don’t know the artist’s name — such as The Child’s Bath, by Mary Cassatt, shown below.

The Child's Bath, a painting by Mary Cassatt
Wikimedia Commons

So whether you are learning about art yourself or teaching kids about art, Artle is a fun and hands-on way to explore some of the world’s most important artists — including Piet Mondrian’s blocky “compositions in colors” (No. 1 shown below).

Piet Mondrian painting Composición de colores nº 1
Wikimedia Commons

Think you have what it takes to be an Artle champion? Start playing here.

Not an art-lover? No problem. There are other variations of Wordle, including Heardle. With Heardle, you hear a short snippet of a song’s intro. Then you have to guess the musical artist and title of the song based on those notes. If your answer is wrong, Heardle will give you another shot to get the answer right by playing more of the song.

This is an excellent party game or simply an entertaining game to play on your own. And like Artle, you may find yourself being introduced to artists you never knew.

Try your hand (or ear?) at Heardle here.

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