Some friends have recently put together a comprehensive list of the 50 best films of the millennium, of which it seems I have only seen eight. This does not bode well for my chances in Framed, a new Wordle-like puzzle game that challenges you to identify a movie from still images. You can play it for free in your browser.
The rules are simple and familiar to anyone who has played any of the latest wave of similar games. You have a limited number of guesses that you can name the movie with; each wrong guess reveals a new still and yet another chance to guess; win or lose, you get some colored squares to easily share your result; and there is only one film to identify per. day.
Luckily, today’s movie was not from the last 22 years and I got it after three guesses.
While the various Wordle-inspired games have a lot in common, I think they sit on a spectrum. At one end you have Wordle, Nerdle, Octordle, all of which to me feel like puzzles. You probably have the necessary knowledge to solve them, but you need to research them to find the answer in as few steps as possible.
At the other end you have Heardle, Who Are Ya ?, and now Framed, which all feel more like trivia games than puzzles. If you know the answer, you know the answer. If you do not, the games will reveal more information – the still images in Framed will become more useful as they evolve – but you do not really confuse anything. This feeling of ‘Well, I just do not know this movie’ made me give up yesterday, even though in hindsight it was a mistake, as the last picture contained a sign with the movie’s name on it.
(The world feels like it sits somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, offering directions and distances to help you find your way to identify a country, even when you do not recognize its shape.)
In any case, Framed is fun. It’s another way to test your trivia knowledge, fill in WhatsApp chats with friends and distract yourself while at work. Play it here.