• by Ray Schultz , December 4, 2023

Hearst Newspapers has acquired Puzzmo, a new puzzle games platform. Terms were not disclosed.  

Puzzzmo, developed over the past three years by Zach Gage and Orta Therox, provides what they call thoughtful puzzles. Both founders will head game development and technology for the Puzzmo platform within Hearst.    

“Puzzmo’s design was inspired by traditional newspaper games,” Gage says. “As an icon in the newspaper industry, we’re proud to have Hearst as our long-term partner.” 

The Puzzmo.com site will feature web-based versions of the puzzles in Gage’s catalog, including Apple Arcade offerings like SpellTower and new releases such as FlipArt and Wordbind.  

Hearst is now rolling out Puzzmo to readers of more than its 50 brands, ranging from the San Francisco Chronicle to Popular Mechanics, and Hearst Television’s suite of local news apps and sites.

Publications outside of Hearst can also leverage Puzzmo: The platform includes zero-code tools that will allow them to tailor the look and feel of settings, games and paywalls.

In one month after opening its waitlist on Oct. 19, Hearst saw 100,000 puzzlers make over a million attempts to gain access prior to launch and the purchase a “lifetime” subscription.  

“Puzzmo brings all the challenges of traditional newspaper puzzles to a new level of design, collaboration and interactivity, and we believe they will become a daily habit for our readers across the country,” says Jeffrey Johnson, president of Hearst Newspapers.