Published July 24, 2024
The “puzzle power” of two leading technologies now enables players to enjoy all-new play experiences, bringing more possibilities to the Crossword grid and evolving the game for new audiences along with devoted fans.
A new series of Crossword games is uniquely enabled by two proprietary technologies working hand-in-hand: IGT’s NextGen game programming, which generates puzzles in ways that couldn’t be done before ─ and the company’s Infinity Instants™ printing technology, which presents the games in ways no one has ever seen.
“Last year, we introduced the first game in this series, Crossword Gems,” notes Tony Lucci, IGT Director of Marketing, Instant Ticket Innovation. “Now we’re continuing to roll out new titles. All of these Crossword games use colors and patterns to convey the outcome and offer players new ways to win.”
Player Testing
To gather real-world feedback on new Crossword game concepts, IGT and research partner KS&R fielded a study in January 2024 with more than 1,500 players. This research included Crossword Gems and two additional concepts: Colorword Cash and Crossword City.
Crossword Gems and Colorword Cash both featured secondary collection mechanics that players in the study found very appealing.
Crossword City deconstructed a traditional Crossword puzzle into smaller, colored segments that were distributed across an eye-catching cityscape. A bonus is awarded for the completion of each colored segment.
Player response indicated that all three are strong performers to offer into the market, and all are available to lotteries now. A particular favorite was Crossword Gems: 84% of all respondents said they love or like the game, and nearly seven in 10 respondents (69%) indicated they would likely try the game if it were available, with the majority citing its visual appeal. More than half of the respondents said they “like the game more than other scratch games they currently play.”
Research on the new instant games (concept art shown, uncovered) also revealed their popularity among younger adult demographics: almost a third of the sample (32%) who chose Crossword City as their most preferred game are 18-34 years old; similarly, 30% for Crossword Gems.
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One Word to Win
Another new concept in the series, One Word Crossword, is a new take on a game that is already familiar to players. The game offers the chance to win by completing just a single word, rather than the typical three. IGT has leveled-up this experience by using Infinity Instants to add easy-to-identify colored words as the one-word “win words,” and using its NextGen game engine to greatly vary how these colored words are distributed across the various puzzles in the game.
IGT is currently developing One Word Crossword for the Oregon Lottery, among other Crossword launches planned with lotteries domestically and internationally in 2025.
“The new Infinity Instants play styles build on traditional Crossword games in ways our players responded to enthusiastically,” says Tina Erikson, Lottery Products Portfolio Manager for the Oregon Lottery, which participated in the research on other games in the series. “We’re excited to offer players who love Crossword a new way to play and introduce others to the category with an attention-getting game.”
Adds Giancarlo Perrotta, IGT Vice President Global Instant Ticket Innovation, “These games can both renew the offering in markets where the segment is already developed, and offer more modern and engaging Crossword for customers where the market hasn’t yet reached full potential. We’re bringing a new play experience that is simple to understand, unique, and taking the extended play category in a new direction to add more entertainment value for players. We look forward to working with customers to adapt the new Crossword games to their local markets.”
Learn more at IGT.com/Infinity, and contact your IGT representative for IGT’s new Extended Play catalog, available in June.