Understanding Games and the News

This brief history of games and the news showcases how little has changed in the process of integrating the two. Fundamentally, crossword puzzles, newsgames, and gamified elements rely on effective user engagement. All three innovations can educate and inform, as well as entertain the public through new and imaginative experiences of play. Each endured waves in popularity and persisted despite ebbs and flows. However, these patterns also expose the arbitrary nature of incorporating games into news products. Many news innovations fail—and why Wynne’s crossword puzzle remains in vogue is a mystery.

In each case, games are never meant to be the sole vehicle for relaying a story or comprehending the news. As senior editor for Data News at WNYC John Keefe stated, “It’s not like a driving force for us. If we feel like we can tell a story using a game we might do that. It’s just one of the possibilities that we might have for a particular way of presenting a project.”