I’m a real big fan of Puzzmo lately, and it’s made me excited about the future of daily games and newspaper-style games.
Everyone remembers the whole word puzzle craze back in 2022. Everyone was playing the same puzzle every day, and then a thousand billion variants and copycats came about. Most of them faded away since then, but thankfully still automated and updating daily. But the energy is still there and thanks to Wordle I think people are finally starting to figure out what makes daily games tick. Puzzmo is just the first one to really succeed in my opinion.
I do like the New York Times puzzles. Not just Wordle, but Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, and the new Strands game. But Puzzmo is the one I actually paid for, and that’s because the games aren’t just good–they’re excellent. Not just as games, but as daily games.
The crossword is fun, and nerdier than most so I can get more of the clues. But the real stars are stuff like Pile-Up Poker, Flipart, and Typeshift. Games that are quick burst, fun, and extremely challenging if you’re searching for the best score but fairly relaxed if you’re not.
I love that Puzzmo includes old mobile game mainstays like Spelltower and Really Bad Chess, now turned into daily games. Every day, you’re playing the exact same puzzle as everyone else, and it’s up to you to get the best score you can. The hand-crafted nature of it really works well!
Spelltower once came in one of those Humble Android Bundles they used to do, and I was quite addicted to it in around 2012, 2013, 2014; it’s one of the best mobile games out there. All these years later, converting it to a social game where everyone is trying to solve it with the highest score, in the fastest time, is such a great evolution.
You can even try to solve today’s puzzle right this very instant thanks to the power of html embedding:
I really like Puzzmo.
I like the variety in game types, I like the presentation, and I like the challenge. There’s not huge pressure to play EVERY SINGLE DAY. So my anxiety doesn’t spike like for some crappy mobile game. It’s just there when I need to work my brain a little.
Several of the games would be so good for ESL, too. Full-on Wordle type stuff is a bit too hard, but I think kids in groups would have a blast trying to compete in the same daily puzzle for stuff like Spelltower and Wordbind. Sadly, there’s no school subscription discount or anything, but maybe one day…
Anyway, I just wanna say that Puzzmo is cool and I want more friends who play it.
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