'Strands' joins the New York Times' successful game portfolio
What's the story
The New York Times is set to officially add "Strands," a word search game, to its portfolio of games this Friday.
Following the success of "Connections" and "Wordle," Strands underwent a four-month testing phase, attracting millions of players despite being practically hidden.
Jonathan Knight, head of Games at the Times, noted that Strands gained popularity faster than anticipated, stating "Strands got very big, very quickly."
The addition is expected to boost the paper's subscription business and offset declining advertising revenue.
Game dynamics
Strands' popularity and gameplay mechanics explored
Strands was developed at a "Game Jam," designed to fill a need for a word search-type game in the Times' app lineup.
Knight explained that Strands "bubbled up as a version of a word search that was true to the New York Times' games."
The game is organized by a six-by-eight grid of letters with category hints, and players must find words relating to the theme and discover the "spanagram," which describes what all the words have in common.
Business impact
Strands' accessibility and impact on 'Times'' subscription business
Strands will be added to the Times' Games app, which currently hosts 10 games including Crossword, Spelling Bee, and Sudoku.
The app allows people to play some puzzles like Wordle and Strands for free, while full access costs $6 per month.
Knight believes that the success of new games is building on each other's success as their audience has grown significantly over the past few years.
Future prospects
'Times'' Games App's global success and future plans
The Times' Games app has been downloaded 21 million times globally since 2019, with downloads soaring 113% last year.
Revenue from digital subscriptions crossed $1 billion (₹83,45,32,00,000) for the first time in 2023.
Despite the success, Knight admits that his team is under pressure to find the next hit game, stating "The bar is high now."
The success of Times' games has also prompted other companies such as LinkedIn and Hearst to start creating their own games.
Game comparison
Strands' solve rate and comparison with other games
The solve rate for Strands is fairly high at 81%, due to hints that players receive if they guess three words with at least four letters that aren't part of the theme.
Knight believes this aspect of the game challenges some people not to use hints.
He also noted that compared to Connections, which is deliberately trickier, Strands should be solvable for most people on most days.
Subscriber growth
The role of games in 'Times' subscriber acquisition
The Times currently has 10.6 million digital-only subscribers and its games have been played more than 8 billion times last year according to its annual report.
Brian Morrissey, author of Rebooting a media newsletter, previously told CNN that games have proven a powerful way to acquire new customers who might be open to bundle with news but who otherwise wouldn't subscribe just for news.
Puzzle crafting
Strands' development and daily puzzle creation process
Strands was developed to meet the demand for a word search-type game in the Times' app lineup.
Tracy Bennett, the same editor of Wordle, along with her team of editors and testers, craft the daily puzzles for Strands.
Research conducted by the Times found that Wordle players also enjoy word search games, making Strands a natural addition to its lineup.