The Wordle clones are back on the app store, just a few weeks after Apple wiped out nearly all the copycat games in January.

A quick look at the top free apps on the app store reveals at least two heavily placed wordle-alikes. Many of the copycats appear to have been part of Apple’s first wave of takedowns a few months ago.

Instead, the clones have creatively rebranded to’wordus,”” word guess,”’* wordl,’ and other thinly veiled references to the original game. All of them offer some variant on Wordle’s gameplay, down to the same gameplay, UI, design, and color scheme.

Apple encourages developers to not copy other games. In section 4.1 of its app store guidelines, the company advises developers to’come up with your own ideas’.

Wordle was first released by original creator Josh wardle and hosted on his website before it was bought by the New York Times. The Times has n’t added Wordle to its official crossword app.

Apple is still the sole arbiter of what is and is n’t allowed on the app store, subject to guidelines that it writes and enforces entirely on its own.

The question is whether Apple can remove Wordle clones again, but should it?. The question then is n’t whether Apple will remove Wordle clone again. But should the question be asked whether it will be removed again.

In January, Wordle was a cute game that a lone creator released on his own as a gift for his partner.’it’s not trying to do anything shady with your data or your eyeballs,’ wardle said.

A lot of the outrage over Wordle copycats in the court of the public seemed to stem from that narrative. All of the comments either added advertising, optional in-app purchases, or subscription fees.

Wardle sold the property to the New York Times in a seven-figure deal. It’s a major property that wardle sold to the NY Times, one of the largest media companies on the planet.

Is it Apple’s responsibility to defend a multi-billion dollar Corporation (with its own teams of lawyers) from copycats?. Should Apple have even taken action back when it was a single developer who was uninteresting in monetizing his work?.