The New York Times Games: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Tags: harv-error Visual edit
Line 11: Line 11:
}}
}}


'''''The New York Times Games''''' (or '''''NYT Games''''') is a collection of [[Casual game|casual]] newspaper and [[Online game|online]] [[Video game|games]] published by ''[[The New York Times]]'', an American [[newspaper]]. Originated with [[New York Times crossword puzzle|the crossword]] in 1942, ''NYT Games'' was officially established on August 21th, 2014 with the addition of the Mini Crossword<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fagliano |first=Joel |date=2019-03-26 |title=A Mini History of Our Mini Crossword |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/reader-center/a-mini-history-of-our-mini-crossword.html |access-date=2024-02-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>. Most puzzles of ''The New York Times Games'' are published and refreshed daily, mirroring ''The Times''<nowiki/>' [[daily newspaper]] cadence.
'''''The New York Times Games''''' (or '''''NYT Games''''') is a collection of [[Casual game|casual]] newspaper and [[Online game|online]] [[Video game|games]] published by ''[[The New York Times]]'', an American [[newspaper]]. Originated with [[New York Times crossword puzzle|the crossword]] in 1942, ''NYT Games'' was officially established on August 21th, 2014 with the addition of the Mini Crossword<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fagliano |first=Joel |date=2019-03-26 |title=A Mini History of Our Mini Crossword |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/reader-center/a-mini-history-of-our-mini-crossword.html |access-date=2024-02-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>. Most puzzles of ''The New York Times Games'' are published and refreshed daily, mirroring ''The Times''<nowiki/>' [[daily newspaper]] cadence.


''The New York Times Games'' is part of a concerted effort by ''The New York Times'' to raise its digital subscription as its print-based sales dwindle. Since its launch, ''Games'' has become one of the main revenue driver for ''The New York Times''<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Maher |first=Bron |date=2023-03-23 |title=How games are powering online subscriptions at The New York Times |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/north-america/new-york-times-games-puzzles-wordle-subscriptions/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>. As of 2023, ''The New York Times Games'' has "over one million" subscribers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joseph |first=Seb |date=2023-03-22 |title=‘The next level for us’: The New York Times eyes better retention for games in subscription drive |url=https://digiday.com/media/the-next-level-for-us-the-new-york-times-eyes-longer-play-sessions-for-games-in-subscription-drive/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Digiday |language=en-US}}</ref>
''The New York Times Games'' is part of a concerted effort by ''The New York Times'' to raise its digital subscription as its print-based sales dwindle. Since its launch, ''Games'' has become one of the main revenue driver for ''The New York Times''<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Maher |first=Bron |date=2023-03-23 |title=How games are powering online subscriptions at The New York Times |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/north-america/new-york-times-games-puzzles-wordle-subscriptions/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>. As of 2023, ''The New York Times Games'' has "over one million" subscribers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joseph |first=Seb |date=2023-03-22 |title=‘The next level for us’: The New York Times eyes better retention for games in subscription drive |url=https://digiday.com/media/the-next-level-for-us-the-new-york-times-eyes-longer-play-sessions-for-games-in-subscription-drive/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Digiday |language=en-US}}</ref>
Line 22: Line 22:


=== 2014–2022: Launch of ''The New York Times Games'' and ''The Mini'' ===
=== 2014–2022: Launch of ''The New York Times Games'' and ''The Mini'' ===
In 2014, ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' introduced ''[[The New York Times Spelling Bee|Spelling Bee]]'', a [[word game]] in which players guess words from a set of letters in a [[honeycomb]] and are awarded points for the length of the word and receive extra points if the word is a [[pangram]].{{Sfn|Amlen|2020}} The game was proposed by [[Will Shortz]], created by [[Frank Longo]], and has been maintained by Sam Ezersky. In May 2018, ''Spelling Bee'' was published on nytimes.com, furthering its popularity.{{Sfn|Lippman|2020}} In February 2019, the ''Times'' introduced ''Letter Boxed'', in which players form words from letters placed on the edges of a square box,{{Sfn|Sarkar|2019}} followed in June 2019 by ''Tiles'', a [[matching game]] in which players form sequences of tile pairings, and ''Vertex'', in which players connect vertices to assemble an image.{{Sfn|The New York Times Company|2023d}}
In 2014, The New York Times officially launched The New York Times Games with the addition of the ''Mini Crossword''. In the same year, ''Spelling Bee'' was launched in its print format in 2014 as a weekly feature in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]''.<ref name="NYT 1">{{Cite news |last=Amlen |first=Deb |date=October 16, 2020 |title=The Genius of Spelling Bee |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/crosswords/spellingbee-puzzles.html |access-date=August 8, 2021 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The game's digital version debuted on May 9, 2018.<ref name="Slate">{{Cite web |last=Lippman |first=Laura |date=February 19, 2020 |title=The NYT Spelling Bee Gives Me L-I-F-E |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/02/spelling-bee-new-york-times-praise.html |access-date=August 8, 2021 |website=Slate Magazine |language=en}}</ref>


=== 2022–Present: Acquisition of ''Wordle'', and further growth ===
=== 2022–Present: Acquisition of ''Wordle'', and further growth ===
In January 2022, The New York Times Company acquired ''[[Wordle]]'', a word game developed by [[Josh Wardle]] in 2021, at a valuation in the "low-seven figures".{{Sfn|Pisani|2022}} The acquisition was proposed by David Perpich, a member of the Sulzberger family who proposed the purchase to Knight{{Sfn|Klein|2023d}} over [[Slack (software)|Slack]] after reading about the game.{{Sfn|Bruell|2023b}} ''[[The Washington Post]]'' purportedly considered acquiring ''Wordle'', according to ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''.{{Sfn|Klein|2023d}} At the 2022 [[Game Developers Conference]], Wardle stated that he was overwhelmed by the volume of ''Wordle'' facsimiles and overzealous monetization practices in other games.{{Sfn|Machkovech|2022}} Concerns over ''The New York Times'' monetizing ''Wordle'' by implementing a paywall mounted;{{Sfn|Mukherjee|Datta|2022}} ''Wordle'' is a client-side [[browser game]] and can be played offline by downloading its webpage.{{Sfn|Hollister|2022}} ''Wordle'' moved to the ''Times''{{'}}s servers and website in February.{{Sfn|Carpenter|2022}} The game was added to the NYT Games application in August,{{Sfn|Hicks|2022}} necessitating it be rewritten in the [[JavaScript]] library [[React (software)|React]].{{Sfn|Orland|2023}} In November, ''The New York Times'' announced that [[Tracy Bennett]] would be the ''Wordle''{{'}}s editor.{{Sfn|Orland|2022}}
On January 31, 2022, [[the New York Times Company]], the parent company of ''[[The New York Times]]'', acquired ''Wordle'' from Wardle for an "undisclosed price in the low-seven figures."<ref name="nytimes acquire">{{Cite news |last=Benveniste |first=Alexis |date=January 31, 2022 |title=The Sudden Rise of Wordle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/crosswords/nyt-wordle-purchase.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202205332/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/crosswords/nyt-wordle-purchase.html |archive-date=February 2, 2022 |access-date=February 2, 2022 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>. The game was officially moved to ''The New York Times Games'' on February 10th, 2023.

In March 2023, NYT Crosswords was renamed to NYT Games to address the application's other games, including ''Wordle'', ''Spelling Bee'', ''Tiles'', and ''Sudoku''. According to Jonathan Knight, chief executive of The New York Times Games, the ''Times'' was concerned over how the application would rank in search results for "crossword".{{Sfn|Peters|2023b}}

In July 2023, ''The New York Times'' introduced ''[[Connections (2023 video game)|Connections]]'', in which players identify groups of words that are connected by a common property.{{Sfn|Morris|2023}} In April, the ''Times'' introduced ''Digits'', a number-based game; ''Digits'' was shut down in August.{{Sfn|Peters|2023c}}


== List of games ==
== List of games ==

Revision as of 02:43, 26 February 2024

The New York Times Games
Developer(s)The New York Times Company
Publisher(s)The New York Times
Platform(s)Newspaper
Web
iOS
Android
ReleaseFebruary 15, 1942 (as The New York Times Crossword)
August 21, 2014 (as The New York Times Games)
Genre(s)Various
Mode(s)Single-player

The New York Times Games (or NYT Games) is a collection of casual newspaper and online games published by The New York Times, an American newspaper. Originated with the crossword in 1942, NYT Games was officially established on August 21th, 2014 with the addition of the Mini Crossword[1]. Most puzzles of The New York Times Games are published and refreshed daily, mirroring The Times' daily newspaper cadence.

The New York Times Games is part of a concerted effort by The New York Times to raise its digital subscription as its print-based sales dwindle. Since its launch, Games has become one of the main revenue driver for The New York Times[2][3]. As of 2023, The New York Times Games has "over one million" subscribers.[4]

History

1942–2014: The Crossword

This section is an excerpt from The New York Times Crossword § History.[edit]

Although crosswords became popular in the early 1920s, The New York Times (which initially regarded crosswords as frivolous, calling them "a primitive form of mental exercise") did not begin to run a crossword until 1942, in its Sunday edition.[5][6] The first puzzle ran on Sunday, February 15, 1942, and was published under a pseudonym Farrar occasionally used, Anna Gram.[7]

The motivating impulse for the Times to finally run the puzzle (which took over 20 years even though its publisher, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, was a longtime crossword fan) appears to have been the bombing of Pearl Harbor; in a memo dated December 18, 1941, an editor conceded that the puzzle deserved space in the paper, considering what was happening elsewhere in the world and that readers might need something to occupy themselves during blackouts.[6] The puzzle proved popular, and Sulzberger himself authored a Times puzzle before the year was out.[6]

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, The New York Times began offering its newspaper online, and along with it the crossword puzzles, allowing readers to solve puzzles on their computers. This marked the beginning of a digital expansion that would later include a variety of games beyond crosswords.

2014–2022: Launch of The New York Times Games and The Mini

In 2014, The New York Times Magazine introduced Spelling Bee, a word game in which players guess words from a set of letters in a honeycomb and are awarded points for the length of the word and receive extra points if the word is a pangram.[8] The game was proposed by Will Shortz, created by Frank Longo, and has been maintained by Sam Ezersky. In May 2018, Spelling Bee was published on nytimes.com, furthering its popularity.[9] In February 2019, the Times introduced Letter Boxed, in which players form words from letters placed on the edges of a square box,[10] followed in June 2019 by Tiles, a matching game in which players form sequences of tile pairings, and Vertex, in which players connect vertices to assemble an image.[11]

2022–Present: Acquisition of Wordle, and further growth

In January 2022, The New York Times Company acquired Wordle, a word game developed by Josh Wardle in 2021, at a valuation in the "low-seven figures".[12] The acquisition was proposed by David Perpich, a member of the Sulzberger family who proposed the purchase to Knight[13] over Slack after reading about the game.[14] The Washington Post purportedly considered acquiring Wordle, according to Vanity Fair.[13] At the 2022 Game Developers Conference, Wardle stated that he was overwhelmed by the volume of Wordle facsimiles and overzealous monetization practices in other games.[15] Concerns over The New York Times monetizing Wordle by implementing a paywall mounted;[16] Wordle is a client-side browser game and can be played offline by downloading its webpage.[17] Wordle moved to the Times's servers and website in February.[18] The game was added to the NYT Games application in August,[19] necessitating it be rewritten in the JavaScript library React.[20] In November, The New York Times announced that Tracy Bennett would be the Wordle's editor.[21]

In March 2023, NYT Crosswords was renamed to NYT Games to address the application's other games, including Wordle, Spelling Bee, Tiles, and Sudoku. According to Jonathan Knight, chief executive of The New York Times Games, the Times was concerned over how the application would rank in search results for "crossword".[22]

In July 2023, The New York Times introduced Connections, in which players identify groups of words that are connected by a common property.[23] In April, the Times introduced Digits, a number-based game; Digits was shut down in August.[24]

List of games

From left to right: The Crossword, The Mini, Spelling Bee, Tiles, Vertex, Sudoku, Wordle, Letter Boxed, and Connections

Current games

The Crossword

Main article: New York Times crossword puzzle

The Crossword is a daily crossword puzzle both online and in newspaper, syndicated to more than 300 other newspapers and journals. The puzzle is created by various freelance constructors and has been edited by Will Shortz since 1993. The crosswords are designed to increase in difficulty throughout the week, with the easiest puzzle on Monday and the most difficult on Saturday.[25] The larger Sunday crossword, which appears in The New York Times Magazine, is an icon in American culture; it is typically intended to be as difficult as a Thursday puzzle.[25] The standard daily crossword is 15 by 15 squares, while the Sunday crossword measures 21 by 21 squares.[26][27]

The Mini Crossword

The Mini Crossword (or simply the Mini) is the smaller version of the Crossword by Joel Fagliano, which is 5×5 Sunday through Friday and 7×7 on Saturdays, and is significantly easier than the traditional daily puzzle.

Spelling Bee

Main article: The New York Times Spelling Bee

The New York Times Spelling Bee, or simply the Spelling Bee, is a word game where players are presented with a hexagonal grid of 7 letters arrayed in a honeycomb structure. The player scores points by using the letters to form words consisting of four or more letters.

Wordle

Main article: Wordle

Wordle is a web-based word game created and developed by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle. Players have six attempts to guess a five-letter word, with feedback given for each guess in the form of colored tiles indicating when letters match or occupy the correct position. The game was acquired by The New York Times in January 2022 for an undisclosed seven-figure sum; the game was moved to the Times website in February 2022 and remains free for all players as of February 2024.

Connections

Main article: Connections (2023 video game)

Connections is a word puzzle where the player has four attempts to clear a grid of sixteen squares. They must select four squares at a time that fit under a specific category (e.g., dog, cat, fish, and parrot for the category "Household Pets"). It was released for PC on June 12, 2023, during its beta phase. It is the second most played game that is published by Times, behind Wordle.[28][29][30]

Letter Boxed

Main article: Letter Boxed

Letter Boxed is a word puzzle that requires players to create words using letters around a square.

Tiles

Tiles is a visual game where players match identical shapes or backgrounds in every tile.

Vertex

Vertex is a visual game where players draw lines between points to create triangles, eventually revealing a hidden image.

Sudoku

The New York Times Games also provides Sudoku in the app and online, with puzzles split into three levels of difficulty and refresh daily.

Previous games

Digits

Digits was a number puzzle where players uses six provided numbers and basic arithmetic (add, subtract, multiply, or divide) to reach as close to the target number as possible. Each number can only be used once.

The game was launched in beta on April 10th, 2023, and was shut down on August 8th, 2023.[31][32]

Cultural impact

Since its inception, The New York Times Games has had impact on popular discussions, including online.[33]

Games has become one of the main revenue drivers for The New York Times.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ Fagliano, Joel (2019-03-26). "A Mini History of Our Mini Crossword". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  2. ^ a b Fitzpatrick, Alex (2024-01-29). "Games are helping the New York Times thrive amid media chaos". Axios.
  3. ^ a b Maher, Bron (2023-03-23). "How games are powering online subscriptions at The New York Times". Press Gazette. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  4. ^ Joseph, Seb (2023-03-22). "'The next level for us': The New York Times eyes better retention for games in subscription drive". Digiday. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  5. ^ (Unsigned Editorial) "Topics of the Times" The New York Times, November 17, 1924. Retrieved on March 13, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c Richard F. Shepard "Bambi is a Stag and Tubas Don't Go 'Pah-Pah': The Ins and Outs of Across and Down" The New York Times Magazine, February 16, 1992. Retrieved on March 13, 2009.
  7. ^ Zimmer, Ben (December 19, 2023). "The Puzzling Story of How Cryptic Crosswords Crossed the Atlantic". Medium. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  8. ^ Amlen 2020.
  9. ^ Lippman 2020.
  10. ^ Sarkar 2019.
  11. ^ The New York Times Company 2023d.
  12. ^ Pisani 2022.
  13. ^ a b Klein 2023d.
  14. ^ Bruell 2023b.
  15. ^ Machkovech 2022.
  16. ^ Mukherjee & Datta 2022.
  17. ^ Hollister 2022.
  18. ^ Carpenter 2022.
  19. ^ Hicks 2022.
  20. ^ Orland 2023.
  21. ^ Orland 2022.
  22. ^ Peters 2023b.
  23. ^ Morris 2023.
  24. ^ Peters 2023c.
  25. ^ a b Shortz, Will (April 8, 2001). "ENDPAPER: HOW TO; Solve The New York Times Crossword Puzzle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  26. ^ "Crossword Puzzle Archive - 1999 - Premium - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  27. ^ "New York Times Specification Sheet". www.cruciverb.com. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  28. ^ Valinsky, Jordan (August 28, 2023). "Move over Wordle, the New York Times might have found its next hit game". CNN Business. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  29. ^ Miller, Chance (August 28, 2023). "'Connections' puzzle game comes to NYT Games app on iPhone and iPad". 9to5Mac. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  30. ^ Silberling, Amanda (August 28, 2023). "Connections is The New York Times' most played game after Wordle". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  31. ^ Amlen, Deb (2023-04-10). "How We Make Games at The Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  32. ^ Peters, Jay (2023-04-10). "You can try The New York Times' new math-based puzzle game right now". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  33. ^ "A Cultural Phenomenon: The Intellectual Appeal of NYT Puzzle Games | Arts | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2024-02-26.

External links

Official website

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_New_York_Times_Games&oldid=1210328620"