Apple’s Latest Daily Puzzle Game: Emoji-Inspired Wordle

World Emoji Day! 🎉 So, Apple decided to throw a little something new into the mix. Ever tried the Apple News+ app? Yeah, they’ve got this puzzle game now — kind of quirky. Emoji Game, they call it. Basically, you drag little emoji into blanks to complete phrases. I mean, I wouldn’t have thought of this, but hey, it’s something to do while ignoring my emails.

Apple’s apparently been having a bit of a game fest lately. This Emoji Game is like the fifth one added to the list. They’ve already got Crossword this, Sudoku that, Mini this—oh, and Quartiles came out last year too. Honestly, this emoji thing’s the oddball — it’s built just for iOS quirks.

So, you’re sitting there staring at all these emoji and — boom — fill in the blank time. They toss some hints your way, too. Let’s say the puzzle is something like Disap_ _ _ _. You see a pear and you’re like, “Oh, I get it now. Disappear.” But this might be a trick because, apparently, emojis have secret identities — like that pear could also be ‘fruit.’ Seriously, who came up with this?

Then it gets wild. Multi-word puzzles mean playing around with emojis meaning multiple things. Like, you might have a fish emoji and a ghost for a phrase about a yearbook. Fish for “school” and ghost for “boo” — school yearbook. Now, imagine trying to think like that before caffeine. At least they give you a smidge of a hint to steer the brain.

And just when you think it couldn’t get weirder, iOS 18’s Genmoji throws its hat in the ring. Let’s say you’re one apple emoji away from genius – the eaten apple fills “core” in a word. Cheeky, isn’t it?

But why all this? Apple loves a bit of competition, and it looks like they’re eyeing the kind of craze that their cousin Wordle has. Daily pursuit of puzzle glory and all that jazz. They even have stats, streaks, and head-to-head showing-offs with up to 16 people. Do you smell Wordle vibes? I do. Yet another playful excuse to linger on the ol’ Apple News+ app.

Anyway, you can dive into Emoji Game right now if you’ve got iOS. Happy puzzling, or not — whatever floats your boat.