Since Daily Word Puzzles took over the Internet in 2021, there has been no shortage of games like Wordle (opens in new tab). As we reported last month (opens in new tab), Wordle has led to an increase in paid subscriptions to the NYT's game collection, even though Wordle itself is free.

Similar long-term success, unfortunately, cannot be said for other Wordle-like games. one of the most popular Wordle clones, called Heardle (opens in new tab), has given a musical spin to Wordle's puzzle format. in Heardle, the first second of the song and guess what it is. Each time you miss (or pass) your guess, you get to hear a little more of the intro to that song.

Heardle was so popular that it was acquired by Spotify in July 2022, but less than a year after spending an undisclosed amount of money to acquire it, Spotify decided to close Heardle. Players who played Heardle daily began to receive a terse, somber message when they visited the site to play the music puzzle game:

"Thank you for playing Heardle...Effective May 5, Heardle will be As of May 5, Heardle will no longer be available.

That is very unfortunate. The reason for the closure has not been disclosed, but perhaps the game did not lead to the same increase in paying subscribers as the NYT's Wordle; when Spotify acquired the game, it described Heardle as more than just a puzzle game, but "a tool for music discovery" and "a way to deepen interactivity throughout Spotify's said it believed it was "in line with our plan to deepen interactivity throughout the Spotify ecosystem.

Apparently it didn't work out; Heardle is an everyday puzzle, a creative twist on the Wordle format that doesn't seem difficult or costly to maintain. If you play Heardle and want to keep your own stats, they are encouraging players to take a screenshot of their stats page by May 4.