A clone of the popular Wordle game by Josh Wardle. This version eliminates the letter Z and helps citizens blocked behind the new Iron Curtain get access to the rest of the world's information.
Because Wordle is a very simple and fun game. And because information needs to be free.
Ukraine is currently under attack in a brutal invasion. The Russian government has been telling its troops that they are just going to a "special military operation" and that there is no war.
The world knows different, but now Russia has cut its citizens off from the world. All non-state-owned media has been shuttered. Increasingly-larger portions of the Internet are being blocked, including all news sites and social media. Long prison sentences have been enacted for those who vocally disagree with the government. Protesters are dealt with swiftly.
The result: People hear only the official story. The word "war" is banned. Fewer people believe there even is a war. Protests dwindle. A pro-government movement develops and gets bigger every day.
This pro-government, pro-war movement has chosen the letter Z as its symbol. Originally, it was written on tanks. Then as grafitti. Now it has an official logo and appears on clothing, signs, bumper-stickers, etc.
Hopefully, if more people know the truth, fewer will support the war.
The main menu of the app provides information on getting connected to the Internet through the government firewall using VPNs and Tor. It also provides frequencies and times of international shortwave news broadcasts.
Local Installation This is a Progressive Web App (PWA) and can be installed locally on Windows, Android, Chrome, and Samsung devices without using app stores, so all information from will still be available without an Internet connection. You can achieve the same effect on MacOS and iOS using "Save to Desktop/Homescreen" in your browser. The app is still fully-usable on the web from any browser without installation.
Compatibility As this is a PWA, it requires a secure (https) connection to view the website or download the app. Older versions of iPhone (3G or earlier) cannot view it. There are still major compatibility issues with the menus in newer versions of Safari (iPhone 6 or newer).
The play is simple:
- Each day you get a different 5-letter secret word to solve.
- You have 6 chances to guess the word.
- All guesses must be valid 5-letter words.
- After each guess, you will receive clues.
- Blue tiles are correct.
- Yellow tiles show letters that are in the wrong position.
- At the end of the game, your results are copied to the clipboard so you can share them if you wish.
There are 3 basic sections:
- Connecting to the Internet through a firewall using VPNs and the Tor network, and how to connect with the Tor browser and Tails.
- Tor onion links (hidden services) for foreign sites and social media that has been blocked. These are notoriously cumbersome to remember and type in.
- When using this app from a Tor browser, the links can be followed directly.
- The links can be copied to the clipboard for viewing in a Tor browser. If the app is locally installed, this is the only option.
- Shortwave radio frequencies and program times for media networks. Many news outlets still broadcast their programming worldwide.
Short answer: there would be way too many to list, and impossible to vet and keep up with them all.
Instead, this app is focused on helping citizens whose media is blocked to get access to the rest of the world, find out the truth, and hopefully not join the war.
- On first load, each info screen must be refreshed before content can be loaded.
- The game board does not scale down on small iPhone displays.
- Keyboard input may not be working on some versions of Samsung devices.
No new features are planned. Content will be updated regularly.
Spot something you'd like to work on? Make a pull request.
🌎 Visualize Wordle peace. A Wordle without Z. 🌍