News Games announces the first-ever suite of digital games based on local news
PRESS RELEASE September 26, 2022
The News Games product suite includes News Quiz, News Word, and News Crossword, all of which help audiences consume local news in a new, fun and engaging way.
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HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — News Games today announced the general availability of News Quiz, News Word, and News Crossword — online products that local news organizations can use to engage their audiences.
Each News Games product directly ties into a local news organization’s content, providing a refreshing new way for audiences of all demographics to consume local news.
As local news organizations continue to embrace digital strategies, products such as quizzes and word puzzles help drive digital engagement and audience satisfaction. A recent article from
Nieman Lab, an organization at Harvard University dedicated to helping journalism navigate its future in an Internet age, points out that solving puzzles has paired well with reading news for over 100 years and digital news games have become core parts of many news organizations’ online initiatives, including at
The New York Times.
News Quiz
Consumers love news quizzes because they provide a quick and fun way to catch up with the news and test their knowledge. However, news quizzes have traditionally only been available from large national news organizations, leaving local news audiences abandoned.
Now with News Games’ News Quiz, local news organizations of any size can quickly and easily provide their audiences with local news quizzes.
The News Quiz platform was designed from the ground up to provide a premium user experience, including:
- Clean, card-based user interface
- Ability to see what % of others answered each question correctly and get your total score
- Surprise and delight features such as a burst of confetti following a strong score
- A story summary with each answer and a link to read the full article
- Ability to sign up to get notified each time the news organization publishes a new quiz
News Quiz is fully embeddable into a news organization's website, and with customizable colors and fonts, each quiz fits seamlessly with a news organization's brand. News Quiz also supports NPR’s pym.js technology, which allows embedded content to contextually flow vertically on the page, overcoming a limitation of traditional iFrames.
Pricing and Availability
News Quiz is optimized for both desktop and mobile and available immediately with full-service or self-service options:
- Full-service: News Games will write and publish one quiz per week. Pricing is $1,000 per month or $750 per month for non-profits.
- Self-service: news organizations use the News Quiz platform to write and publish their quizzes. Pricing is $80 per month or $50 per month for non-profits.
More information about News Quiz can be found at
newsgames.org/newsquiz.
News Word
Simple word-guessing puzzles have become increasingly popular over the last several years. However, words used in these puzzles haven't related to local news, leaving a lost opportunity for audiences to benefit from additional value. News Word addresses this by providing the tile-based word guessing gameplay consumers are accustomed to while also tying the word solution to local news.
The News Word platform includes the following features:
- Familiar tile-based gameplay
- Word solution relates to local news
- Summary of the related news story
- Link to the related news article
- Score and streak history
Pricing and Availability
News Word is optimized for both desktop and mobile and available immediately as full-service or self-service:
- Full-service: News Games will create and publish one word puzzle each day. Pricing is $100 per month or $75 per month for non-profits.
- Self-service: news organizations use the News Word platform to create and publish their puzzles. Pricing is $80 per month or $50 per month for non-profits.
More information about News Word can be found at
newsgames.org/newsword.
News Crossword
Crossword puzzles have long been popular, with The New York Times launching its first crossword in 1942. More recently digital mini crosswords have increased in popularity, providing consumers with a quicker way to enjoy similar gameplay as full crosswords. However, words used in crosswords haven't related to local news, leaving a lost opportunity for audiences to benefit from additional value. News Crossword addresses this by providing the mini crossword format consumers are accustomed to while also tying words used in the crossword to local news.
The News Crossword platform includes the following features:
- Familiar 4x4 mini crossword gameplay
- Words used in crossword relate to local news
- Clues link to related news stories
- Summary of the related news stories with links to the full article
- Time to complete crossword
Pricing and Availability
News Crossword is optimized for both desktop and mobile and available immediately as full-service or self-service:
- Full-service: News Games will create and publish one mini crossword each day. Pricing is $1,000 per month or $750 per month for non-profits.
- Self-service: news organizations use the News Crossword platform to create and publish their crosswords. Pricing is $80 per month or $50 per month for non-profits.
More information about News Word can be found at
newsgames.org/newscrossword.
About News Games
News Games is on a mission to make the consumption of news engaging and fun. With a focus on local news, News Games enables news organizations of any size to easily offer news quizzes, word puzzles, and crosswords based on their news content. News Games is a public benefit corporation based in New Hampshire. Learn more about News Games at newsgames.org.