Ah, so, World Emoji Day is upon us. Who knew that was a thing, right? Apple’s jumping into the celebration with a new puzzle game and — wait for it — it’s on the Apple News+ app. In the US and Canada, if you’re curious. So, there’s this game now, Emoji Game, where you drag these little smiley faces or whatever into blanks to complete phrases. Personally, seems like a fun way to procrastinate.
The brains at Apple cooked this one up themselves. Yep, it’s their fifth little puzzle endeavor. It snuggles right in with their other mind-benders like Crossword, Mini Crossword, Sudoku…ah, and Quartiles, which apparently made its grand entrance last year. But this Emoji Game? It’s kind of its own beast since they crafted it with all those iOS features.
Alright, let’s break it down. You get a daily puzzle, six words or phrases, and a scatter of emojis to help you crack the code. Imagine getting a clue like Disap_ _ _ _, and there’s a pear staring at you from the bottom of your screen. Drag it in, and boom, you’ve got Disappear. Funky, right? It kind of gives a nod to Blue Prince — you know, if that rings a bell — where one emoji could mean loads of things. Mr. Pear’s not just a pear; it could be “fruit” when you’re in the mood.
Gets trickier, though. Picture a puzzle asking for _ _ _ _ _ _ Year _ _ _ k, and you’ve got a fish and ghost. Pop the ghost into the mix, you get Yearbook — the ghost’s standing in for “boo.” And the fish? Well, it morphs into a School Yearbook. Genius or total headache? Up for debate. Thankfully, there’s a hint if the gears start grinding.
The real fun begins with these emoji clusters that say, “Hey, what am I?” Makes you think twice, doesn’t it? The game’s also showing off iOS 18’s Genmoji trickery. Saw this one word — “core” — filled in by a half-eaten apple emoji. Clever, Apple, very clever.
You get this vibe they’re chasing that Wordle craze, though. Daily puzzles, tracking back to July, competitive scores, the whole shebang. Is it something to snag Apple News+ just for this game? Probably not. But hey, if you’re already there, why not toss another game into your daily routine, right?
Oh, and it’s ready to go today on Apple News+ if you’re wielding iOS. Dive in and let those emojis have their day.
