Creating Word Tua: A Brain-Rot Twist on Wordle

If you're like many of us, you’ve probably spent some time playing Wordle — the addictive word-guessing game that took the internet by storm. But, if you’re anything like me, you might also find yourself frustrated with its sometimes obscure vocabulary and the mental effort it demands. What if there was a version of Wordle designed solely for “brain rot” — the kind of fun, silly, and cringe-worthy words that are more about entertainment than education?

Well, that’s exactly what I set out to create. In this post, I’ll walk you through my journey of building Word Tua, a brain-rot-themed Wordle clone that’s as goofy as it is addictive.

Why Build Another Wordle?

Wordle is simple yet engaging: six guesses to find a five-letter word, with color-coded feedback to guide your guesses. However, the game has evolved into a kind of brain nourishment — learning new words, expanding your vocabulary, and sometimes feeling like homework.

But on the internet, sometimes what we really want is brain rot — lighthearted, meme-worthy content that’s fun without the pressure.

So, I had an idea: why not create my own Wordle, but with only brain rot words? And to make it more interesting, I challenged myself to build it in an hour.

Step 1: Understanding the Rules

The original Wordle rules are straightforward:

• Guess a five-letter word in six attempts.
• Letters turn green if correctly placed.
• Yellow means the letter is in the word but wrong place.
• Gray means the letter isn’t in the word at all.

For Word Tua, I kept these basics but allowed some twists later on.

Step 2: Programming the Game

I chose to use React with Vite for this project, even though this game could be done without any frameworks. Why React? Because:

• It could evolve into a library of brain rot games.
• It was a good opportunity to refresh my React skills.

Using the command npm create vite@latest with a React template, I quickly scaffolded the project.

Next, I tested AI to generate Wordle code automatically. Surprisingly, AI produced a working Wordle clone in under 10 minutes! That said, it was rough around the edges:

• No smooth animations.
• No restriction on valid guess words.
• Keyboard feedback missing.
• Boring win/loss screens.

But hey, this was a starting point.

Step 3: Adding Brain Rot Words

The heart of Word Tua is its word list — full of internet slang, meme words, and pop culture phrases. I found existing “brain rot” word lists online, formatted them with definitions, and stored them in a JSON file.

Examples include:

• Glaze: To hype or praise someone to a cringe-worthy extent.
• Gagged: Shocked or amazed.
• Riz: Charisma or flirting ability (Oxford Word of the Year 2023!).

I also removed the five-letter word limit and added support for multi-word phrases with spaces, making the game more flexible and fun.

Step 4: Enhancing the Experience

To improve animations, I used the Framer Motion library, as my CSS skills are limited. Although AI helped generate animation code — a process I dubbed “vibe coding” — some glitches remained, so I manually fixed what I could.

I added:

• Dark mode support.
• Definitions displayed after each word guess to help players learn the slang.
• No daily play limit – because brain rot should be unlimited!

Step 5: Naming the Game

No game is complete without a catchy name. I asked my Discord community for suggestions, and Word Tua was born — a perfect blend of cringe and charm, just like the game itself.

What’s Next for Word Tua?

The game is playable now and open source on GitHub. But I’m still working on:

• Adding more words.
• Improving animations and UI.
• Fixing bugs.

I welcome contributions from anyone who wants to help make Word Tua the ultimate brain rot Wordle experience.

Want to Learn Coding and Build Your Own Games?

If this inspired you to dive into programming, check out Brilliant, a learning platform designed to teach coding and problem-solving through interactive lessons. Their courses cover Python, programming fundamentals, and more — perfect for beginners and those looking to level up.

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Play Word Tua Today!

Ready to get your brain rot on? Try Word Tua now via the link below — and if you want to help improve the game or add your own brain rot words, the source code is available for you to contribute.

Play Word Tua here: [Link to game]

Let’s make Word Tua a fun, silly, and addictive alternative to Wordle — because sometimes, we all need a little brain rot.

Thanks for reading, and happy guessing!

— Sloth