This year, there seems to be a common thread tying students together across the sea of Chromebook screens something that appears on most computers at some point throughout the day since September: The New York Times games are taking over the school.
Wordle, The Mini Crossword, Connections, Letter Boxed, Tiles, Spelling Bee, Sudoku and even the newest beta game, Strands, have been everywhere. Students try to shield themselves from getting the answers to each game spoiled by their friends and count down the time to complete each game.
Whether it’s a shared annoyance over the absurdity of the purple category in Connections or a race to see who could get the Wordle in fewer attempts, these games have served as an engaging way to bring students together during downtime.
“I always look forward to playing the NYT games after finishing my work,” senior Sadie Berg said. “Connections is both challenging and fun.”
These popular games are a fan favorite and a common bookmarked tab on Chromebooks for both students and teachers.
“It’s the first thing I do when I wake up after I make my coffee,” AP Computer Science teacher Dean Ratajczak said. “I sit there, I do my Wordle, my Connections and my Mini Crossword.”
This phenomenon of everyone playing the games of the day is not just a trend confined to inside the classroom. Many, ranging from students to parents and friends to random people on social media, have become entranced by these popular games.
The common popularity of these games bring us back to our childhoods when a whole generation would be united over their new favorite games to play. What began as Subway Surfers and Candy Crush renaissances on every iPhone 6 has transformed into these New York Times games.
Generations of people seek commonalities to bring them together and the newest games have united people simultaneously unleashing our inner child, while still engaging in somewhat “grown up” pursuits. The nostalgia of playing games again, coupled with the complex and engaging puzzles, led to the popularity of The New York Times Games and they certainly will not be going away any time soon.
