New York Times new math-based puzzle game is available to play
New York Times readers can try out the beta version of Digits, a math-based puzzle game, at this link.
Digits is a number-crunching game in which the player is given a set of six digits and must use arithmetic operations on them to obtain a target value. You don’t have to stick to just those six digits; for instance, you could multiply two of them and add the product to one of the others. If you obtain the exact amount, you get three stars; if you’re close, you get one or two stars.
Even though I only earned three stars on the first of Monday’s Digits puzzles, I had a great time trying to get as close to the target number as possible in all five. I also like that there is no need to get the word exactly right in order to “win,” as that was one of the reasons I stopped using Wordle. (Digits also has a subtle but satisfying animation when you combine numbers that reminded me of games like Threes and 2048.)
The beta version of Digits, however, has had several issues. At first, the game only responded to taps on an anonymous Chrome window; when I played it on my work computer’s logged-in Chrome browser, the numbers wouldn’t add up correctly until I refreshed the page, and the game didn’t even load on my phone. For me, at least, those problems seem to be resolved, so here’s hoping you won’t have to face them.
The New York Times reports that a beta version of Digits “will be available this week for a limited-time release.” The beta’s success or failure will determine whether or not Digits is developed into a complete version of the NYT game. The [NYT’s greenlight] committee must decide whether more tuning would be helpful or if production of the game should halt if the response to the game isn’t what the team is looking for, as stated in the article.
When we questioned NYT spokesperson Jordan Cohen whether or not a subscription would be required to play Digits if it were to become a full-fledged NYT game, he gave us this evasive answer: We have not yet decided on Digits’s long-term viability, but we welcome feedback from gamers.