The New York Times, which owns the famous online word puzzle, is collaborating with Hasbro to produce “Wordle: The Party Game.” According to a press release, “traditional Wordle gameplay is now being delivered in an entirely new manner” with the new board game. Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hasbro Gaming Adam Biehl said that after seeing how popular Wordle had grown online, Hasbro contacted the New York Times about creating a party game based on the concept.
In an exclusive interview with CNN Business, Biehl said that the popularity of individuals sharing their findings on social media was what first piqued their attention. This is when we realized its uniqueness:
- According to Biehl, “Wordle: The Party Game” is one of the quickest launches in Hasbro (HAS) history, with development taking less than a year. The new game is in line with the rest of the company’s pop-culture line, which includes “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things”-themed Monopoly sets. The Times has received a license fee from Hasbro (HAS) for the usage of Wordle.
- Games developed by Hasbro’s team go through many iterations before settling on the final product.
- Authenticity to the Wordle experience is a priority for us because we want to capture what first piqued customers’ interest in the game, Biehl said.
More than that, the group wanted to “meet the quality of what the Times recognized for,” as Biehl put it. Working with them has an enjoyable collaboration. On Thursday, pre-orders for the game will go live in preparation for its October 1 release. It has a recommended retail price of $19.99 and will available through Hasbro, Target, Amazon, and Walmart.
Methods of Participation
Like the original Wordle game, “Wordle: The Party Game” has players use color-coded hints to dordle try to predict a five-letter word in their team’s score (yellow if the letter is correct but in the wrong place and green if the letter is in the correct spot). There are four game modes included in the board game edition: quick, timed, teams, and the classic.
Players in the original version compete to correctly guess the “Wordle Host”-assigned word. Each player takes turns being the host, and if the proper word is not guessed after six attempts, the game ends. The presenter covers incorrect letters with colored tiles to show the right answer. Players have less time to make their predictions in the fast and timed modes. The team version of the game involves two players competing against another team by playing off a single board and guessing the word their opponent has chosen.
The internet’s game
We all know how popular game nights are, and how much fun it is to get together with friends to play. Social events are “a means to share, interact, and make memories with others,” as stated by Biehl. Like the online version, the scoring system rewards players for correctly guessing the word in the fewest possible attempts. The winner is the player who accrues the fewest points at the conclusion of the game; this directly proportional to dordle the number of attempts they needed to complete the task.
In order to avoid any cheating, the game has dry-erase boards and markers, as well as dividers and tiles colored green and yellow for suggestions. The Times also provides an approved vocabulary list for your convenience. “Leans toward a little older audience,” Biehl observed, referencing Hasbro’s other word games like Scrabble and Boggle, despite the game’s intended family appeal. He said, “We know that those games played by a bit older audience, young adults and adults, but we want to make sure there’s a route in for the younger players because we know that many families prefer to bond through games.”
Wordle has expanded
This online game launched in October 2021 by Josh Wardle, a software programmer from Brooklyn who previously worked at Reddit. In January of 2022, the New York Times spent “low seven figures” to acquire Wordle to add to its burgeoning library of online games, which already included the Crossword, the Mini, and the Spelling Bee. Jonathan Knight, the Times’ director of games, told CNN Business that turning Wordle into a board game a great way to reach new audiences while simultaneously keeping the Times’ “current audience engaged with Wordle.” “This partnership has us over the moon.”
As the newspaper looks to increase its income streams outside advertising, the purchase of Wordle has helped increase the number of digital subscribers. Revenue from digital product subscriptions rose 26.3% year over year to $226.8 million, accounting for more than 40% of total sales. While Wordle will always available without charge, the Times will require payment to access its other games after a certain number of free attempts. According to Knight, the company’s primary goal is to increase Wordle’s visibility by integrating it into the Times’ flagship news app and Crossword app.
For example, CEO Meredith Kopit Levien claimed in May’s earnings announcement that “Wordle delivered an unprecedented tens of millions of new users to the Times, many of whom remained to play additional games,” resulting in the strongest quarter ever for net subscription additions to Games. She also revealed that the corporation gained 387,000 net digital members during the quarter, bringing the total number of subscribers to 9.1 million.