Emoji Game
Rate itDrag emoji into the gaps to finish three short phrases in as few moves as you can.
on support.apple.com
Emoji Game is a daily word puzzle in Apple News+, launched in July 2025. You complete three short phrases by dragging emoji into the blanks, and every emoji you place or clue you open counts as a move, so the aim is to finish in as few moves as you can. It needs an Apple News+ subscription.
About Emoji Game
Emoji Game is an original puzzle from Apple News, added to the Apple News+ Puzzles section on 17 July 2025 alongside the crossword, the mini crossword, Quartiles and sudoku. At launch it was available in English for Apple News+ subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Each day's puzzle has three short phrases with blanks in them and a selection of emoji to choose from, including some Genmoji made with Apple Intelligence. You drag emoji into the gaps to complete the phrases, reading them literally, by association or in combination. Every placement counts as a move, and the goal is to complete all three phrases using as few moves as possible.
Each phrase comes with a clue. You can reveal it if you are stuck, but opening a clue also counts toward your total moves, so there is a trade-off between help and a better score.
Results go onto Game Center leaderboards and can be shared through Messages, Mail or social media. Subscribers play the daily puzzle and archived ones in the Puzzles section of the News app. With Game Center turned on in News, scores also count in the Apple Games app, where you can challenge friends to the same Emoji Game puzzle; the puzzle itself is still opened and played in News.
How to play Emoji Game
- Open the News app, go to Puzzles (the sidebar on a Mac) and open today's Emoji Game.
- Read the three answers, each a row of blank letters with a clue behind it.
- Drag an emoji, or a group of emoji, onto the blanks where its word or meaning fits; its letters may be split across the answer.
- Expand a clue if you are stuck, knowing it counts as a move.
- Complete all three answers in as few moves as you can, then share your result.
Screenshots
Tips
- Try each emoji three ways: as the object it shows, as something it is associated with, and as a group with the emoji beside it (three fish can be a school).
- The letters an emoji gives can be split up in the answer, as an earth emoji filling L_ _ _N _ _E ROPES for learn the ropes.
- Fill the answer you find easiest first; the emoji left over narrow the choices for the others.
- Save clues for the last answer, since each one you expand costs a move.
- Revealing the answers from the More menu keeps the puzzle out of your stats and streak, so use it only when you are done trying.
Questions
Do I need Apple News+ to play Emoji Game?
Yes. Emoji Game is for Apple News+ subscribers, which Apple prices at $12.99 a month in the U.S. and $16.99 in Canada.
How is Emoji Game scored?
By moves. Each answer you try and each clue you expand counts as a move, and the aim is to complete all three answers in as few as possible.
Can I play past Emoji Game puzzles?
Yes. Subscribers can open earlier puzzles from the Emoji Game feed in the Puzzles section of the News app.
Where can I play Emoji Game?
In the News app on iPhone, iPad and Mac, in American English, for subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, on iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4 or later.
What happens if I reveal the answers?
The answers you had not found are shown, and that puzzle does not count in your Scoreboard stats and streaks.
Can I play Emoji Game in the Apple Games app?
Apple's support guide still has you open Emoji Game in the News app. The Apple Games app is where its Game Center leaderboards show and where you can challenge friends to solve an Emoji Game puzzle, once Game Center is turned on in News.
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