From Digital Age to Nano Age. WorldWide.

Tag: NYT

Robotic Automations

NYT Games launches a Wordle archive with access to more than 1,000 past puzzles | TechCrunch


The New York Times Games announced on Tuesday that it’s launching a Wordle archive, offering subscribers access to more than 1,000 past Wordle puzzles. The company has started rolling out the Wordle archive on mobile and desktop to “Games” and “All Access” subscribers, but notes that the the rollout is expected to take place over “the next couple of months.” The Times plans to bring the archive to its Games app in the coming weeks.

The media company, which acquired the popular puzzle game back in 2022, says the archive will allow players to catch up on any puzzles they may have missed, while also enabling them to play the game at their own pace. Players can browse through the calendar of past Wordle puzzles, dating back to June 2021. Subscribers will be able to see and save their progress on past Wordle puzzles and share their results with others.

In addition, the Times is bringing WordleBot, its personalized companion that analyzes your completed Wordle, to the NYT Games app. WordleBot allows players to challenge themselves to analyze how they could approach the puzzle differently by assessing their skills and strategies.

“This expansion is not just about playing past puzzles; it’s about deepening the connection our community has with Wordle and with each other,” said Jonathan Knight, head of Games at The New York Times, in a press release. “We believe this will make the daily puzzle even more engaging and provide even more moments of surprise and delight for our subscribers to share with friends and family.”

In March, the NYT Games app debuted a redesign to help users discover games and track their progress more easily. The redesign, which featured new game card designs and streamlined navigation, was the company’s next step in building out its gaming hub. The change came nearly a year after the company renamed its games-focused app from “NYT Crosswords” to “NYT Games” to better represent its growing family of games.

The Times says its Games app was downloaded 10 million times in 2023 alone, and that its games were played more than eight billion times last year. Wordle accounted for nearly half of that number, as it was played 4.8 billion times.


Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Apple News is testing a game that kind of looks like NYT Connections | TechCrunch


Apple News is testing a new game for iOS 17.5 called Quartiles, which requires players to organize a grid of 20 syllables into 5 four-syllable words. Spotted by Gadget Hacks, the interface for Quartiles looks a lot like the New York Times’ newest hit, Connections. Did Apple News sherlock the New York Times?

Okay, Quartiles isn’t exactly like Connections, where you organize 16 words into four cohesive categories of four. It’s maybe closer to something like Boggle, since you’re being tested on your ability to put words together from their components. But there is something about finding groups of four that we seem to find really alluring these days — Connections is now the Times’ second most popular game, after Wordle.

Last year, Apple added crossword puzzles and mini crossword puzzles for Apple News+ subscribers. While it may appear odd for a news aggregator to continue investing in games, that’s exactly what has been working for the New York Times. When the paper bought the game Wordle in 2022 for an undisclosed seven-figure sum, the purchase brought in “tens of millions” of new users in just one quarter. Over the last few months, the Times’ data shows that users have spent more time playing its games than reading the news.

Apple is just beta testing Quartiles, which doesn’t mean it’s definitely going to appear in iOS 17.5. But given that the New York Times is low-key running a gaming studio now, it’s not a bad idea for Apple to churn out some new, preferably square-shaped games.




Software Development in Sri Lanka

Back
WhatsApp
Messenger
Viber