game

19 Stories

NYT Goes After Worldle, Which Sounds Just a Bit Like Wordle

Owner of word game files legal challenge to similar-sounding geography-themed online game

(Newser) - Played any Worldle lately? Not Wordle (we got you, didn't we)—Worldle, a geography-themed game whose name is so close to the famous online word-based game that the owner of the latter is now going after the former. The BBC reports that the New York Times, which scooped up...

Have You Gotten 'Whammed' Yet This Holiday Season?
39 Years Later, Wham!
Tops UK Christmas Chart
updated

39 Years Later, Wham! Tops UK Christmas Chart

George Michael wanted a holiday No. 1, Andrew Ridgeley says

(Newser) - The avoidance game that's all the rage apparently is not hurting the popularity of "Last Christmas," released by Wham! 39 years ago. For the first time, the song is top of the Christmas chart in the UK, the BBC reports. Andrew Ridgeley said the other half of...

NFL Makes 'Difficult, but Necessary, Decision' on Game

Meanwhile, Hamlin has reached a recovery 'turning point'

(Newser) - When Damar Hamlin woke up Wednesday evening after two days of sedation, the first words he wrote down to a nurse were: "Who won the game?" The 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety was referring to the matchup Monday night between his team and the Cincinnati Bengals where he'd collapsed...

James Corden to Revise Game Seen as Anti-Asian
She Called Out James Corden,
Is Now Getting Death Threats
in case you missed it

She Called Out James Corden, Is Now Getting Death Threats

Petition creator Kim Saira wants an apology for segment she sees as anti-Asian

(Newser) - Late Late Show host James Corden has vowed to reform his occasional "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts" segment, but that's not enough for critics who call it racist. Some 46,000 people have signed a Change.org petition demanding a public apology, a donation to Asian...

All Those Teddy Bears? It's a Pandemic Game

Families from the US to England to New Zealand are taking part

(Newser) - Keep seeing teddy bears in windows on your street? It's no ursine invasion. It's part of a worldwide game created to cheer up children during the coronavirus pandemic, Time reports. Inspired by Michael Rosen's 1989 book We're Going on a Bear Hunt, residents of the US,...

Critics Blast Rosie for 'Gross' Link to Trump Game

'Push Trump Off a Cliff Again' isn't going over well with conservatives

(Newser) - There's no love lost between Rosie O'Donnell and President Trump , and a tweet the comedian posted over the weekend is unlikely to mend any fences. Per USA Today , O'Donnell tweeted a link on Saturday to an online game that invites players to "Push Trump Off a...

Meet Chess World's Young New Champ

Magnus Carlsen, 22, seen as a game-changer, literally

(Newser) - The world of chess just got a jolt. In what the Times of India calls "the most one-sided world championship match in modern history," Norway's Magnus Carlsen, 22, beat reigning champ Viswanathan Anand, 43, today to become World Chess Champion. In doing so, he has ushered in...

Guys Play Complex Game of Tag— for 23 Years

Old school buddies stay in touch ... literally

(Newser) - Imagine hiding in the trunk of your friend's car as part of a game of tag—and doing it as an adult. That's exactly what Sean Raftis, a priest, did in the 1990s to tag his old school buddy Joe Tombari. When the trunk opened, Raftis jumped out...

Undead Take Over College Campuses
Undead Take Over College Campuses

Undead Take Over College Campuses

'Humans vs. Zombies' role-play lets students 'act like kids again'

(Newser) - Zombies are a growing scourge on college campuses, but fear not: They can be stopped with Nerf guns, pool noodles, or rolled-up socks. The game Humans vs. Zombies—“tag” for the 21st century—began at a college near Baltimore and has spread to some 50 campuses. “It really...

Apple Yanks 'Baby Shaker' iPhone App

Game to shut baby up met stunned outcry from children's groups

(Newser) - An iPhone application urging users to shake a virtual baby to death to shut it up has been pulled after an unsurprising outcry from child welfare groups, reports the San Jose Mercury News reports. A representative for Apple—which is nearing its billionth app download—refused to comment on how...

'Zzz' Spells Discontent for Scrabble Enthusiasts

Some game fans lobby for rules change

(Newser) - If you sigh in resignation every time you pull a Z or Q out of the Scrabble letter bag, new additions to the game’s official word list probably have you sighing in relief. But aficionados say the expanding list—now including “za,” “qi,” and “...

Mathematician Solves Sudoku
 Mathematician Solves Sudoku 

Mathematician Solves Sudoku

(Newser) - A mathematician has devised a foolproof method for solving Sudoku puzzles, USA Today reports. The stimulating mental challenge of the game has attracted millions of fans all over the world, but, from a mathematical perspective, “the interesting fact about Sudoku is that it is a trivial puzzle to solve,...

9-Year-Old Writes Popular iPhone App

(Newser) - A 9-year-old Singapore boy has created a drawing application for the iPhone that is popular around the world, the Electric New Paper reports. Lim Ding Wen reworked one of his existing 20 programs for the touchscreen gadget. “I wrote the program for my younger sisters, who like to draw,...

Rubik's Cube Gets a Makeover
 Rubik's Cube Gets a Makeover 

Rubik's Cube Gets a Makeover

Inventor says Rubik 360 will be as maddening as the cube

(Newser) - Hungarian puzzle patriarch Erno Rubik promises his sphere will be as fiendish to tackle as his cube, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reports. The Rubik 360, which goes on sale later this year, features a transparent orb with colored balls that must be moved through spheres. Puzzle fans worldwide say they are...

Stick This on Your Plate and Eat It

(Newser) - You probably won’t find it in the supermarket, but out in a parking lot in Missouri, you could easily cross paths with a raccoon, the Kansas City Star reports. Not one ravaging the Dumpster, but one dressed and packed for dinner. A best guess has Missourians yearly consuming about...

Teen Critical After Jumping From Moving SUV on Dare

200 Ill. teens played the stunts-for-cash game

(Newser) - An Illinois grand jury is investigating a scavenger hunt that left a 17-year-old in critical condition after he jumped from a Dodge Durango moving at 25mph. As many as 200 teenagers were apparently competing for cash by performing stunts and videotaping them last Friday. Erik Nava's team was winning the...

Fantasy War Game Models Global Pandemic

Virtual outbreak gave scientists chance to study spread

(Newser) - A programming error in an online fantasy game gave researchers a profound insight into how a deadly epidemic spreads and how to combat the crisis. The London Times reports a glitch occurred in World of Warcraft, which has millions of online players. A disease aimed at a handful of characters...

Four Square Gets Serious in Silicon Valley

Playground game is the latest sport adopted by 'rejuveniles'

(Newser) - The latest craze to take root in Silicon Valley doesn’t involve codes or algorithms, just squares. That is, four squares, taped onto a carpet, or painted onto asphalt, for the classic elementary school game of four square. The game requires four players to hit a rubber ball back and...

Game Over: Mahjong Can Cause Epilepsy

(Newser) - Playing the traditional Chinese tile game of mahjong can induce epileptic fits, a new study from Hong Kong shows, and the only remedy is to lay off the tiles. Men were far more susceptible than women, according to the authors, and it wasn't just lack of sleep or gambling stress...

19 Stories