Apple News+ has expanded its offerings with the introduction of a new game, the Emoji Game, designed to engage subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. This addition aims to enhance user engagement within the news subscription service.
The Emoji Game joins a suite of other games already available on Apple News+, including Crossword, Crossword Mini, Sudoku, and the word game Quartiles. These games are accessible to subscribers in both the U.S. and Canada, with content presented in English. The integration of games into subscription services has demonstrated success in attracting and retaining users, a strategy observed in platforms such as The New York Times and LinkedIn.
Coinciding with World Emoji Day, the Emoji Game combines elements of logic and word puzzles, drawing inspiration from contemporary emoji communication. Players are tasked with deciphering phrases using emojis, striving to complete each puzzle with the fewest possible moves. For example, to solve the word “appear,” a player might encounter the letters “ap” followed by four blank spaces, requiring them to drag the emoji for a pear into the blanks. The puzzles are designed to present a challenge, frequently involving abstract thinking or combinations of emojis to deduce the correct answer. In some instances, the word represented by an emoji may be used to fill blanks interspersed with other letters.
A clue option is available for players encountering difficulties, which can be unveiled below the phrase. Activating a clue, however, will incur a deduction of one move from the player’s total. Each day, participants must solve multiple phrases to complete the full puzzle. Achieving a perfect score is defined by completing a puzzle in six moves. Leaderboards are incorporated to allow players to track their streaks and compare their scores with friends and other users. With the upcoming release of iOS 26, users will gain the ability to challenge friends to participate in games through the new Games app.
The game incorporates Genmoji, custom emojis generated using Apple Intelligence, the company’s artificial intelligence technology. This feature expands the available emoji options beyond the standard set of fewer than 2,000 emojis found on typical keyboards. As an illustration, a puzzle might present a Genmoji of a blender alongside an emoji of a tomato to form the word “purée.” The Emoji Game was developed through a partnership with The Puzzle Society, now GoComics, and its content is edited by Apple puzzle editors.
The game is currently being rolled out to Apple News+ subscribers in the U.S. and Canada across iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices. Users operating on iOS 18.4 and later versions will not require an application update to access the game, while those on older versions will need to update their app. The Apple News+ subscription also provides access to content from over 400 premium publishers, narrated audio articles, local news coverage, sports content, and the recently introduced recipe-saving feature, Apple News+ Food.
