The Appeal of NYT Games

At the start of 2022, a new game took America by storm: Wordle. All across the U.S., people found themselves playing the compelling word puzzle, asking each other for hints on a mysterious five-letter word which they had to guess within six attempts based only on information about the word’s letter arrangement. Top Google search trends depicted a mass of individuals searching for the definitions of Wordle words; visits to the Wordle website increased drastically, and variations of the game were created to add extra challenges and include other languages. Wordle was an objective success for both NYT (after the company purchased it) and the American population, which displayed a newfound curiosity for intellect in pop culture. 

Still, Wordle was preceded by The New York Times’ already-established collection of games—which included Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed, Tiles, and Vertex—as well as an NYT game app. Wordle was certainly not The New York Times’ first attempt at featuring a game. As of now, NYT’s Mini Crossword and Connections (where players group 16 words into four logical categories) are fan favorites. 

Every day, each NYT game updates with a new puzzle that is generally solvable in a few minutes. The games are written and edited thoroughly, as well as fine-tuned to ensure they are an appropriate level of challenge for players. 

“We’re always considering feedback for new features and improvements, and hope to be able to roll some of these out when we can,” Wyna Liu, an editor for Connections, said in an interview moderated by New York Times Games.

Additionally, the games cover a range of difficulties; one could switch from stimulating the brain with Connections to simply matching visual patterns in Tiles. Most notably, all the games offer an accessible and enjoyable way to exercise one’s critical thinking, logic, and visualization skills. In a hectic society, the games are a way of sharpening the mind, and also provide a perfect short break from work. Especially for younger generations, NYT puzzles are a quick and fun challenge that prevent adolescents from spending more time in the rabbit hole of brainless social media.  

As for The New York Times, the company has profited greatly from the games’ exposure. With over 4.8 billion Wordle plays—not to mention 2.3 billion successful Connections since the game’s release in June 2023—NYT’s games-only subscription and games app have received new surges of attention. The company’s subscription and digital product earnings each rose at least 10% in a single quarter of 2023 according to the news media company Axios. 

More importantly though, a new quality puzzle for each game is released for free every day. For casual players, the wide variety of daily puzzles are more than enough to quench boredom. The New York Times’ primary aim is not to generate game addictions or cash in on ad revenue; rather, it is to encourage thoughtfulness and engagement. As a result, NYT’s games have naturally weaved their way into Americans’ daily lives.

"We want to fit into your life, and I think that's really resonating with people," Jonathan Knight, NYT's head of games, said in an interview with Axios. 

However, it is reasonable to question the true popularity of NYT’s games. When people played Wordle, did they really enjoy the game—or did they just hop on a trend? NYT’s primary goal was to attract more people to their original, most notable and established puzzle: The Crossword. The Crossword was often too challenging and long for people to complete, so NYT created similar games that were easier and quicker. Although Wordle was popular at the start of 2022, it lost a portion of its players in a short amount of time with users abandoning the game for other activities discovered on  social media.

Nevertheless, NYT games have done an effective job of introducing people in America—and globally—to enticing new words and pop culture. Not everybody may have played Wordle for genuine enjoyment, but the people who did have really enjoyed these thought-provoking puzzles. The New York Times has always been a center of American media, and the introduction of NYT games has only increased community engagement, supporting a new era of intellectual American culture. Ultimately, the games offer a safe space for people to de-stress and pour over a structurally straightforward yet materially difficult puzzle. They push the brain to just the right extent, which is why they are appealing to so many.

by VICTORIA WOO