It was only about a year ago that I discussed the (electronic) games of The New York Times newspaper and how they could possibly be made as "Pokémon Editions", at least some of them anyway. Since then, some changes have taken place, and that's something I'd like to discuss, still with the inclusion of a Pokémon perspective; moreover, I'd also like to discuss the dynamics of one of them, which incidentally also has a minor tie to Pokémon. There is a certain relevance in all of these that need to come to light.
The first matter is those dynamics, which concern one of the current popular pillars of the games, as the Connections game. Wyna Liu, the game's puzzle editor, had in fact stated that during the "beta test" of the game, one of the included categories for a puzzle was for trading card games... and of course, Pokémon was on this short list. Even so, it was decided that categories heavy on pop culture items should (try to) be avoided, which becomes ironic since one of the more recent Connections puzzles featured names - not related to Pokémon - that relied on pop culture knowledge, not to mention being grossly mislabeled in difficulty (at least according to many players, with whom I agree). Since then, a "Sports Edition" of the game has also been implemented officially for these fans; other editions like my theorized "Pokémon Edition" may only have to be implemented unofficially given Wyna's views, though it would still be neat to find out her take.
Meanwhile, a new game has risen to great popularity and is now part of the current lineup of available games to play. Strands is a word puzzle game based on a word search, where players search for words in clusters on a six-by-eight grid, one of which spans the width or height of the board and represents the puzzle theme (called the "Spangram"). Given the free aspect of it, including the "Spangram", a "Pokémon Edition" is totally conceivable with the breadth of linguistic aspects that Pokémon has today. As with any of the other games, though, it will still take some convincing for a "Pokémon Edition" to be made, in particular for Tracy Bennett, the editor of this puzzle, who also happens to be the editor for the ever-popular Wordle.
Unfortunately, there is a bit of sad news as well. Vertex, one of the earlier games I mentioned, has been discontinued to allow the growth of other games. And yet, this was one of the games that heralded the current form of NYT Games, so it's sad to see it go. The fate of a "Pokémon Edition" for this one may now only rest in the hands of dedicated fans who might try to implement the game outside the confines of NYT Games.
All things considered, development is occurring and has occurred for the games of NYT in its electronic and online versions, even one year after I posted them. The development of "Pokémon Editions" for some of them, though, remains an open question, especially given how the developmental twists and turns of one of them were revealed as above. Still, it seems that such a development may not be out of the question, even as something that only Pokémon fans like me may be able to conceive. And if the editors can support that, it may just be a wonderful thing.
One year ago: Cosplay: FUNDOME 2023
Two years ago: Outfit Varieties for Pokémon Go Characters?
Three years ago: For Points and Performance
Four years ago: The Touch of Satoru Iwata
Five years ago: For Want of an EX Raid
Six years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day Weekend, 12/1/2018 to 12/3/2018
Seven years ago: Fallen Comrades
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