The web-based word game Wordle remains hugely popular, but new for 2024 comes an addictive variation for colour geeks. Hexcodle challenges users to guess the hex code of a given colour.
The game is simple. Each day, you're presented with a colour and have to guess the the hexadecimal colour code used to render it in web design. Like in Wordle, you have five guesses. The colour for the hex code that you enter will appear on the right, and you receive hints after each try to tell you how close you are to the right code (for more on the mechanics of colour, see our guide to colour theory).
Hexcodle was developed by Hannah and Ekim, who hope to develop more games in the future. For pros who know their hex codes well, there's a hard mode, which removes feedback on how close your guess was. When you guess correctly, or you run out of guesses, you'll be told the name of the colour (yesterday's was #921d0f, uluru red).
For beginners, it's worth knowing that hex codes represent colours according to the intensity of its red, green and blue components, each represented by eight bits. The format is RRGGBB (red, green, blue), with the numbers or letters in each location representing the intensity of that color: 0 as the lowest and F the highest.
That means that the code for black is #000000 and the code for white is #FFFFFF. A full intensity red is FF0000, full green is #00FF00 and blue #0000FF. The numbers 0-9 represent the first 10 values and A-F can represent the digits 10-15. Happy Hexcodling!
Even for those that don't use hex numbers of digital graphics or web design, it's still a fun way to learn about how different colours are formed in the RGB system. I'm very glad that like Wordle, there's only one challenge a day because it could be way too addictive otherwise.
For more colour inspiration, see our guide to how to choose the right logo colour. And discover the power of brand colours in our piece on why McDonald's ads are better than Burger King's.
