The code that powers the website of the viral puzzle game Wordle can be copied and saved to continue playing it for the next seven years, it has been revealed.
The finding comes amid concerns that the game's sale to the New York Times may mean it stops being free to play.
The code written in Javascript appears as plain text for those who know how to access it.
Some publications have even printed a step by step guide of how to do it.
Effectively you can keep a version of the game as it exists today with enough data to keep you going for a long time said Prof Alan Woodwara computer scientist from University of Surrey.
But he added As you have the words stored locally it might be tempting to cheat, and where's the fun in that He added it would not be too difficult to split the question grid from the answers.
You'd need to hold the data in a file that was inaccessible other than to the game. In essence split the data file of words from the functionality you see when playing.That may sound like a lot of effort for a daily word game that challenges users to find a five-letter word in six guesses, with clues along the way.
But having risen from a handful of players to millions in just a few months, some may be willing to try.Nick Allan, legal director at law firm Lewis Silkin, told the BBC: "The particular expression of the software code underlying a game like Wordle will be protected as a literary copyright work under UK copyright law," he said.
"It is not possible to waive UK copyright, and the copyright provided on the Wordle website is not obviously licensed to the general public on a free, perpetual open-source basis.
"Unless Mr Wardle has provided this type of general licence to the public, he or the New York Times are likely to still retain the right to enforce the copyright as they see fit."
That means that anyone replicating it or creating a clone game could be liable for copyright infringement, at least in the UK courts.
It might be possible, added Mr Allan, to create a game using different lines of code that achieve the same result.
"Either way this is a complex area, fraught with legal risk for anyone thinking of using this code to release their own Wordle."
And it is likely that the website will be completely re-engineered like the idea of doing the opposite of that - what about a game that deliberately doesn't want much of your attention?
"Wordle is very simple and you can play it in three minutes - and that is all you get.
"There are also no ads and I am not doing anything with your data - and that is also quite deliberate."
Players begin by guessing any five-letter word.
- If any of the letters are in that day's word but in the wrong place, they turn gold
- If they are in the word in the right place, they turn green
- If they are not in the word, they turn grey
Players can post how quickly they solved the colourful grid on social media - but in a way that does not spoil the answer for those still playing - which is why, Mr Wardle thinks, it has captured the imagination of thousands.
Each morning
Mr Wardle, a software engineer for social-media platform Reddit, told Today he had come up with a prototype in 2013 but his friends had not been keen on it.
The latest iteration of the game was initially designed for just himself and his partner.
"Last year, my partner and I got really into crosswords and word games and I wanted a game for us to play each morning as part of our routine," he said.
He then shared it with his family on WhatsApp before opening it up to the public.
Button appeared
Asked whether he planned to make money from it, he said: "I don't understand why something can't just be fun.
"I don't have to charge people money for this and ideally would like to keep it that way."
Mr Wardle does have a history of creating popular games, such as Reddit's The Button.
In it, a button appeared on the website with a 60-second countdown and had to be pressed by someone anywhere in the world to keep the game running.
The experimental game lasted from 1 April to 5 June 2015 before a minute passed without anyone pushing the button. the New York Times takes charge.
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