Okay, so there’s this thing – World Emoji Day, apparently. Apple’s jumping on it by tossing a new puzzle game into their Apple News+ app. I think it’s only in the U.S. and Canada for now. It’s called Emoji Game, kind of catchy, I suppose. You basically drag little emoji thingies into phrases that aren’t quite complete. The idea’s sorta fun, maybe?
Anyway, it’s all their gig, this Apple crew. It’s like the fifth puzzle game now if you’re on Apple News+ – with crossword and Sudoku and some Quartiles thing that popped up last year. But this Emoji Game? It’s meant to stand out because it plays nice with iOS features. Could be cool, might be gimmicky.
So here’s the 411: each day, you’re up against six words or phrases. A bunch of emoji appears, and you gotta slot them in right. For instance, you might see Disap_ _ _ _, and if there’s a pear emoji lurking around, bam – slip it in there to spell Disappear. And here’s the twist: like Blue Prince (if that means anything to you), emojis can double up on meanings. Sort of a two-for-one deal.
Oh, but it gets trickier. Think about juggling phrases, mixing and matching. Like you might see _ _ _ _ _ _ Year _ _ _ k and need to toss a fish and ghost emoji, getting Yearbook by slipping a ghost for “boo.” And the fish? It’s meant for “school” (yeah, school of fish, wild huh?). But don’t stress – there are hints if your brain stalls out.
They’ve also roped in something they’re calling Genmoji – a new iOS 18 thing. Saw one puzzle where a half-eaten apple emoji meant “core.” Kinda clever.
So yeah, Apple’s riffing off the whole Wordle craze with this. Got that same daily vibe with archives, and stats for all you numbers folks. Up to 16 players can battle for the top spot. Not a reason to nab Apple News+ alone, but hey, if you’ve got it, here’s another distraction for the day.
You can snag Emoji Game today if you’re on iOS with Apple News+. Happy puzzling, I guess?
