🧩 An Olympic Puzzle Decathlon!

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🧩 An Olympic Puzzle Decathlon!
Your monthly digest from the world of puzzles and games View in browser 

Dear Reader, 

You're reading the monthly newsletter from Amuse Labs, covering the world of puzzles, publishing, and updates to PuzzleMe™, the most advanced digital platform for smart games. 

    Scientific American Launches Games 

    Scientific American launched a new games section last month, and we worked with them to make sure the games appeal to their audience of science enthusiasts. 

    We spoke with Sarah Lewin Frasier, Assistant News Editor at Scientific American, about how SciAm games are tailored for their audience. Here's what she had to say:

        "We write for a general audience but with a particular emphasis on those interested in science and learning about the world. Ideally, playing our games helps people do just that.

        If you play a standard word game from another outlet, you might finish it and think, ‘That was fun,’ and move on. But with our games, we hope that by playing, you’ll encounter something really cool or interesting that deepens your understanding of the world."

        Scientific American is a great example of how a special-interest publication can adapt games for their audience. Spellements, their version of Word Flower, always has one pangram that's used in a recent article by the publication. The Science Jigsaw helps you learn about a new scientific development with an article about the image revealed on completion. 

        Read our full interview with Frasier here, where we dive into Scientific American's history with games, adapting PuzzleMe games to the company's brand, and how the publication thinks about monetising. 

            The Boston Globe's Puzzle Decathlon for the Olympics

            Earlier this month, The Boston Globe launched the "Puzzle Decathlon", a 10-day online puzzle series that ran along with the Olympics. In line with the sporty theme, each puzzle came with its own scoring criteria for awarding bronze, silver and gold medals. 

            This limited-edition series utilised a variety of games on PuzzleMe, with special "events" like Spiral and Word Lanes, a form of the Marching Bands format. Pick a game to play and see if you can bag a gold medal. 

            With the Puzzle Decathlon, The Boston Globe found a playful and fun way to help its audience participate in the current news cycle through games. Have something similar in mind? Reach out to us and we'd love to bring it to life. 

            Merriam Webster Leans Into Thriving Crossword Series

            Towards the end of 2023,  Merriam Webster launched a weekly online crossword called "The Missing Letter" which uses dictionary definitions as clues. The website's audience of language enthusiasts has made the game extremely successful, and it has only grown in popularity since its launch. 

            Encouraged by this response, Merriam Webster has now turned The Missing Letter into a daily crossword! There's also a "Mystery Word" you can reveal by solving all the puzzles in a given week. The game comes with a new puzzle picker and a unique online solving experience. Give it a try here. 

            From the Crossworld

            The Boswords Summer tournament took place on July 21st, both in-person and online. The online version, which had more than 250 participants, was held using PuzzleMe's contest mode. You can buy the pack of five puzzles used in the contest on the Boswords website.

            ICYMI: There's a heartwarming Reddit thread on r/crossword where solvers are discussing their favorite crossword constructors. Get to know the most popular constructors by going through the comments, or chime in if your favorite constructor has not been mentioned yet!

              PuzzleMe Spotlight

              A selection of features from PuzzleMe, the most advanced digital platform for games

              1. Contest Mode on PuzzleMe

              Thinking of hosting a puzzle contest? PuzzleMe's Contest Mode has you covered. Using contest mode, you can disable ‘help’ features from the player to conduct a fair competition.

              In Contest Mode, PuzzleMe hides answers from the user’s browser. This ensures that even the most technically sophisticated users won’t be able to peek into the page’s code to find answers.

              Contest Mode games can be easily integrated with site builders like WordPress and Wix to automatically identify logged-in users. You can also collect names and email addresses on any website to identify users and create leaderboards. 

                2. A Brand New Analytics Dashboard

                We've given PuzzleMe's analytics dashboard a facelift, and added some more statistics to help you understand how your players interact with your game. New data points include the percentage of solvers who completed your puzzle correctly. 

                Head to the PuzzleMe dashboard and click on the Analytics icon to get more insights on the performance of your games. 

                3. PuzzleMe for WordPress

                Did you know that PuzzleMe has a nifty WordPress plugin? If you're a WordPress user, the PuzzleMe plugin is the easiest way to enhance your website with games

                Using the WordPress plugin makes it easier than ever to set up social sharing and multiplayer mode on PuzzleMe games. Creators with the plugin can also add games to pages by using the WordPress shortcode. If you're using WordPress, try the plugin today and unlock a whole host of unique features.

                  Puzzle of the Month

                  The University of Toronto released a Word Search puzzle as part of its Alumni Reunion 2024. Clues include references to campus life, making it the perfect puzzle to spark some nostalgia in the university's alumni. 

                  About Us

                  Amuse Labs is the creator of PuzzleMe™, the leading digital platform for Smart Games. It is a B2B SaaS company trusted globally by brands and publishers, powering Crosswords, Sudokus, Jigsaws, Quizzes, Word Searches and more. Explore opportunities to partner by sending a note or applying if you’d like to work with us! 
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                  Nishant Kauntia
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