Apple's App Store floods with "Wordle" game clones, one of which even lured iPhone or iOS users to pay for an annual in-app fee.

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This illustration photo shows the Apple app store logo reflected from an iPhone onto the back of an iMac in Los Angeles, August 26, 2021. - Apple has agreed to loosen payment restrictions on its App Store, a major change announced in a settlement with small developers as the US technology giant faces growing scrutiny and legal challenges over its tightly controlled online marketplace. The change will allow small developers to inform their customers of alternative payment options beyond the official App Store.

'Wordle' Game

It is worth noting that the popular web-based gaming title, "Wordle," is completely free-to-play, as per the news story of MacRumors. 

Therefore, the original daily guessing game, which was developed by Josh Wardle, does not involve any in-app purchases, to begin with.

The world-puzzle game has rapidly grown in its user base since it first saw the light of day in Oct. 2021.

In fact, according to the online story of CNET, "Wordle" has become the talk of the town since its debut, amassing social media discussions about the game.

The tech media website further noted that even the American host and comedian Jimmy Fallon plays the web-based puzzle game.

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'Wordle' Clones on Apple App Store

However, this time around, its popularity has led to multiple unofficial clones on the official marketplace of Apple.

As per the report by Mashable, one of the rip-offs of the sought-after puzzle game was created by Zachary Shakked, who claims to be a "degenerate app developer."

He even went on to promote his clone of "Wordle" on his Twitter account, saying that he "decided to make" his very own version of the "Wordle app. " However, Shakked added that there is a twist to it.

It is worth pointing out, though, that while the base game is free-to-play, the Wordle clone on the Apple App Store lures its users to pay a fee to play it without any limitations.

"You can also play unlimited times if you're on the Pro version," the developer of the clone, which goes by the name "Wordle - The App" further said. It turns out that the Pro version of the clone app costs around $30 per year.

The close app of "Worlde" on the Apple App Store is successfully capitalizing on the popularity of the original web-based puzzle game, which carries the same name.

In fact, Shakked also shared on his Twitter account that the game has already garnered 12,000 downloads. Not to mention that it also ranked at the 28th spot of Apple App Stores' top word games.

On top of that, the developer of the "Wordle" clone also boasted in the same tweet that his game is now the fourth search result on the Apple App Store. Shakked concluded his post by saying "We're going to the fucking moon."

Meanwhile, a Twitter user, Greg Karber, also noted that the numerous best-performing word games on the Apple app marketplace are actually "Wordle" clones.

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Written by Teejay Boris