Bundling games with other services has proven a successful strategy to attract users and keep them engaged, as The New York Times and even LinkedIn have discovered. Apple won’t share its user numbers around Games, but it says that many people subscribe to News+ just for the puzzles.

Image Credits:Apple

Released to coincide with World Emoji Day, the new Emoji Game is part logic, part word game that’s inspired by how we use emojis to communicate with one another. In this daily game, players try to solve phrases using emojis with the goal of completing the puzzle in the least number of moves possible.

For instance, if the word “appear” showed up in the puzzle, you might see the letters “ap” followed by four blank spaces. Then, you’d drag the emoji for the pear up into the blanks to complete the word. Of course, the phrases in the Emoji Game will be a bit harder to guess. Plus, the emoji you need to solve the puzzle will often be found in emoji combinations or those that involve a bit of abstract thinking to come up with the answer. The word for the emoji may also be used to fill in blank spaces that have other letters in between them.

If you’re stumped, you can unveil a clue below the phrase, but this will cost you one of your moves.

Image Credits:Apple

There are multiple phrases to solve each day to complete the full puzzle. Finishing in six moves is considered a perfect score, and leaderboards help you track your streaks and how your scores compare with friends and other users. In the upcoming iOS 26, you’ll be able to challenge friends to play with you using the new Games app.

To make the game more Apple-specific, it also leverages the recently introduced Genmoji, or the custom emojis that are created using Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI. This expands the emojis available beyond the fewer than 2,000 that ship with your emoji keyboard. For instance, you might see a Genmoji of a blender and an emoji of a tomato to make the word “purée.”

The game is built by Apple, and puzzles are designed in partnership with a third-party, The Puzzle Society (now GoComics). The game is also edited by Apple puzzle editors. It’s rolling out now to Apple News+ subscribers in the U.S. and Canada on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. (Users on iOS 18.4 and later won’t need to update their app to gain access to the game, but those on older versions will.)

The News+ subscription also comes with access to over 400 premium publishers, narrated audio, local news, sports, and, most recently, a recipe-saving feature, Apple News+ Food.