Heardle
{{Short description|2022 web-based music game}}
{{Infobox video game
| released = February 2022
| genre = Puzzle game
| developer = Omakase Studios
| platform = Browser
| publisher = Spotify
}}Heardle was a web-based music game created by London-based Omakase Studios.{{cite news |last=Brereton |first=Greta |date=7 March 2022 |title=Check out the new Wordle-inspired game for music lovers, Heardle |work=NME |url=https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/check-out-the-new-wordle-inspired-game-for-music-lovers-heardle-3176742 |access-date=17 November 2023 |archive-date=November 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117091943/https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/check-out-the-new-wordle-inspired-game-for-music-lovers-heardle-3176742 |url-status=live }} Inspired by the game Wordle, it tested players' knowledge of music.
Gameplay
Gameplay involved attempting to guess the name of a song by listening to six progressively longer snippets of it, from 1 to 16 seconds.{{cite news |last=Avery |first=Dan |date=March 12, 2022 |title=Wordle + Name that Tune = Heardle |work=CNET |url=https://www.cnet.com/culture/internet/wordle-name-that-tune-heardle/ |access-date=18 November 2023 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118203434/https://www.cnet.com/culture/internet/wordle-name-that-tune-heardle/ |url-status=live }}
Development
Development of Heardle began in December 2021. The game was released on 26 February 2022. At the time of release, songs were sourced from music streaming service SoundCloud, selected by the developer "semi-randomly" after discovering that curating songs led to better gameplay than selecting them randomly.{{cite web |last=Amorosi |first=A.D. |date=23 March 2022 |title=Heardle, the Wordle of Music, Has Users Rushing to Name That Tune |url=https://variety.com/2022/music/news/heardle-music-wordle-game-1235212963/ |website=Variety |access-date=December 23, 2023 |archive-date=December 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223102946/https://variety.com/2022/music/news/heardle-music-wordle-game-1235212963/ |url-status=live }}
In July 2022, Spotify acquired Heardle for an undisclosed sum.{{cite web |last=Welsh |first=Oli |date=July 13, 2022 |title=Spotify buys Heardle, the Wordle for music lovers |url=https://www.polygon.com/23206760/spotify-buys-heardle-music-guessing-game |website=Polygon |access-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-date=September 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930163937/https://www.polygon.com/23206760/spotify-buys-heardle-music-guessing-game |url-status=live }} They subsequently shutdown the game in April 2023 to prioritize other means of music discovery.{{cite news |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=14 April 2023 |title=Spotify is shutting down Heardle, the Wordle-like music guessing game it bought last year |work=TechCrunch |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/14/spotify-is-shutting-down-heardle-the-wordle-like-music-guessing-game-it-bought-last-year |access-date=17 November 2023 |archive-date=April 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230414140405/https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/14/spotify-is-shutting-down-heardle-the-wordle-like-music-guessing-game-it-bought-last-year/ |url-status=live }}
Legacy
Heardle itself led to clones. Heardle Decades featured the same gameplay with different sets of songs, such as from various decades of music, TV themes, or from specific artists.{{cite web |last=Connellan |first=Shannon |date=18 July 2022 |title=Heardle Decades lets you guess all the '80s and '90s bangers |url=https://mashable.com/article/heardle-decades-wordle-clone |website=Mashable |access-date=December 21, 2023 |archive-date=December 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221200924/https://mashable.com/article/heardle-decades-wordle-clone |url-status=live }} Videogame Heardle featured video game music.{{cite web |last=Livingston |first=Christopher |date=25 April 2022 |title=Prove your videogame music expertise with this daily Heardle clone |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/prove-your-videogame-music-expertise-with-this-daily-heardle-clone/ |website=PC Gamer |access-date=December 21, 2023 |archive-date=December 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221200924/https://www.pcgamer.com/prove-your-videogame-music-expertise-with-this-daily-heardle-clone/ |url-status=live }}