Newspaper games have always been a staple for puzzle enthusiasts looking for daily stimulation. Think classic crosswords, word finds, Sudoku, etc. In 2024, these games have evolved dramatically as web technologies have made it easier to create and play them. Major publications like The New York Times now see a significant portion of their traffic coming from word games (such as Wordle).

One example of this new wave is Couples, a daily word chain game I’ve been experimenting with for the puzzle community. I’m working on a broader collection of new newspaper games that will encourage daily asynchronous social play. In the process, I’ve focused on a few principles… A new newspaper game should be…

Playable with Pen and Paper
Newspaper games that work well with pen and paper tend to create natural constraints that make rules more intuitive. Building the game on a computer should only strengthen the core mechanic.

Fun Alone, Better Together
A great game should be engaging if you’re playing solo, but extra delightful if you want to rope your friends (or rivals) in. Most newspaper games aren’t social. New newspaper games should feel like local multiplayer without literally being so.

Playable by the Creator
New newspaper games should be playable by the people who made them. Games like Wordle and Couples are great examples of this for different reasons. Wordle sorts through a giant list of words at random, making it impossible for the creator to anticipate the daily puzzle. Couples achieves this by using an LLM to generate all of the puzzles. A new newspaper game will use LLMs to create puzzles once the creator has determined the core gameplay so everyone can have fun playing.

Thought-Provoking
New newspaper games should make us think—really think. In an era where LLMs serve our daily puzzles and so much more… if they can help us do some mental gymnastics daily our critical thinking skills will stay sharp.