Apple’s New Daily Puzzle Game is Like Emoji Wordle

Alright, so here we are, World Emoji Day of all things, and Apple is throwing a little shindig with…a puzzle game? Yup, they’ve cooked up this thing called Emoji Game. It’s nestled right inside that Apple News+ app if you’re hanging around the U.S. or Canada. Think of it as a word game, but with emojis. Which, uh, sounds oddly fun?

So Apple, being all secretive, cooked this one up in-house. Now it’s the fifth on their puzzle lineup for Apple News+ subscribers. It’s keeping company with Crossword, Mini Crossword, Sudoku, and that other one, Quartiles. Emoji Game is kinda funky, though, since it’s got all those shiny iOS perks.

How does it roll? Picture it: You’ve got these puzzles to mess with every single day. Six words or phrases staring at you blankly. Below them? A stash of emojis waiting to be dragged to their destiny. Maybe you see something like Disap_ _ _ _ and there’s a neat little pear staring at you. If you drag it up, bam, you get “Disappear.” Although, we live in a world where a pear can mean more than just fruit — oh, the joy of modern communication.

It’s not all straightforward though. They crank up the challenge with longer phrases. Like say you run into _ _ _ _ _ _ Year _ _ _ k with a fish and ghost emoji thrown in. You slap that ghost into the mix, and maybe it’s a cheeky “yearbook” with a phantom “boo.” Elementary, my dear Watson, right? Hints are tossed your way too, if your brain starts doing backflips.

Onto more emoji shenanigans, they’re really cashing in on this Genmoji feature from iOS 18. You could find yourself mentally constructing, like, “core” using a half-eaten apple emoji. Yep, it’s Apple doing their Apple thing.

What’s Apple up to here? Probably eyeing that whole Wordle craze and thinking, “We want some of that!” Emoji Game even mimics the daily grind with archives going back to July. Keeps you pumped with stats, streaks, and you can even drag your pals in for a head-to-head. Up to 16 people? No pressure!

If you’re browsing Apple News+ already, it’s another quirky little puzzle to kill time. Could it be the reason to dive into a new app? Maybe not. But it’s something to chew on.

And hey, you don’t have to wait — go grab it today on your iPhone. Who knows, you might just snag your high score before your coffee gets cold.