Apple’s Latest Daily Puzzle Game: Emoji Wordle with a Twist

Alrighty, so, it’s World Emoji Day, and guess what? Apple’s throwing this little party with a new puzzle game, right, and you can play it on the Apple News+ app. But only if you’re in the U.S. or Canada. Yeah, sorry if you’re elsewhere. Called emoji game. Real creative, huh? It’s this quirky word game — you know, where you drag emojis into blanks and try to make sense of it.

It’s not like they outsourced it or anything. Nope, Apple made it all themselves. Apparently, it’s their fifth puzzle game. You’ve got the daily crossword, mini crossword, sudoku, and what was that other one? Quartiles? Yeah, that thing from last year. Emoji Game’s like a special snowflake, though, completely tuned into iOS stuff.

So here’s the gist: every day, there’s this puzzle staring at you, expecting you to solve like six words or phrases. Emojis hang out at the bottom, ready to fill those blanks. Imagine a clue like Disap_ _ _. See a pear emoji? Yup, plop it in there to make Disappear. But, hold on, here’s the kicker, emojis aren’t just one-trick ponies. That pear? It’s also “fruit”—go figure.

And then it gets spicier. Multi-word phrases pop up that require, oh, I don’t know, a dab of imagination? Picture this: _ _ _ _ _ _ Year _ _ _ k, and they give you a fish and a ghost. Dragging the ghost onto the second word gives you Yearbook (’cause ghost = boo), and the fish turns into “school.” Which leads to School Yearbook. Genius or exhausting, take your pick. Anyway, if your brain’s about to explode, there’s a hint to save the day.

Oh, and it likes to play with iOS 18’s Genmoji. Saw one puzzle where an eaten apple symbolized “core.” Makes you scratch your head, doesn’t it?

Clearly, Apple’s itching to recreate the magic that made Wordle a thing. It’s got the daily thrills, a puzzle archive (back to July 1, if you’re curious), and social chaos with stats and streaks — even pits 16 people against each other. Six turns to crack the puzzle, which screams Wordle, doesn’t it? Maybe not a subscription magnet, but hey, if you’re there with Apple News+, why not try it?

And today, all this emoji shenanigan is live on Apple News+ if you’ve got an iOS gadget. Dive in if you dare!