What Puzzmo does

Puzzmo, Inc. is a private digital daily puzzle platform and subscription service co-founded by award-winning game designer Zach Gage and engineer Orta Therox, operating as an affiliate of Hearst Communications with headquarters co-located at Hearst's 300 West 57th Street office in midtown Manhattan. The platform delivers a portfolio of distinct free-to-play daily puzzle games — word puzzles (SpellTower, Typeshift, Circuits, Bongo), crosswords (midi-sized and mini), chess variants (Really Bad Chess), spatial logic (Flipart, Memoku, Weather Memoku), and card strategy (Pile-Up Poker, Pile-Up Poker Pro) — alongside experimental titles and a Workshop community puzzle-publishing platform. Underlying technology is web-based with cloud-synced game state, leaderboards, and native iOS distribution; embeddable iframe widgets extend puzzles onto third-party publisher sites.

The company monetizes primarily through a freemium model: free daily play with display/video ads, supplemented by a Puzzmo Plus annual subscription priced at $19.99 intro / $39.99 regular after a 7-day trial, which removes ads, unlocks the puzzle archive, enables leaderboard eligibility and advanced stats, and grants access to exclusive games (Cube Clear, Hue Complete Me extras) and Pile-Up Poker Pro. Secondary revenue streams include affiliate marketing commissions and limited-edition branded merchandise (Circuits Notebook, Lisa Hanawalt-designed playing cards) sold through shop.puzzmo.com. Distribution relies on direct web and iOS channels, a Hearst Newspapers partnership bringing puzzles to newspaper audiences, embeddable widgets for publishers, and community-led growth through Discord and Bluesky social integrations.

Customers are primarily individual puzzle enthusiasts seeking daily word, chess, logic, and card gameplay with competitive leaderboards and family profiles, with a secondary enterprise motion supplying embeddable puzzle content to media publishers via the Hearst relationship and direct partner integrations. Content is sourced from in-house designers, guest creators (Seth Godin for Bongo, Jacob Land for Circuits), and the editor-led crossword team led by Brooke Husic (Stanford PhD) and assistant Madeline Kaplan.

Name

Puzzmo

Legal name

Puzzmo, Inc.

Website

https://puzzmo.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Puzzmo is a private digital daily puzzle platform offering free and subscription-based word, chess, crossword, card, and logic puzzle games, co-founded by award-winning designer Zach Gage and operating as an affiliate of Hearst Communications, serving individual puzzle enthusiasts and media publishers via web, iOS, and embeddable widgets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Puzzle Games

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Amusement Arcades (713120)

akta.pro primary industry

Game Streaming Aggregators & Hubs (Multi-service launchers, catalogs) (MPAFAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Poker Technology & Software (Clients, RNG, Anti-Fraud, HUD/Analytics) (MPAEAEAH)

Keywords

• Digital puzzle games
• Daily crossword puzzles
• Word puzzle platform
• Mobile puzzle app
• Freemium puzzle subscription

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Puzzmo Plus subscription: Annual subscription providing ad-free experience, archive access, exclusive games like Cube Clear, family profiles, and full avatar selection. Promotional intro pricing at $19.99/year (regular $39.99).
2. Affiliate marketing: Company participates in affiliate marketing and allows third-party affiliate links on digital services, earning commission on referred purchases.
3. Swag/merchandise sales: Online shop selling branded merchandise including Lisa Hanawalt-designed playing cards and Circuits notebook. Merchandise occasionally offered as free gifts with subscription.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Puzzmo is a digital daily puzzle platform that publishes a portfolio of free-to-play web and iOS puzzle games — including SpellTower, Really Bad Chess, Typeshift, Flipart, Crossword, Bongo, Memoku, Circuits, Pile-Up Poker, and others — refreshed each day for individual players. It monetizes through a Puzzmo Plus annual subscription that removes ads, unlocks the puzzle archive, and adds exclusive games such as Cube Clear and Pile-Up Poker Pro, plus limited merchandise and embeddable widgets for media partners.

Product overview

Puzzmo is a digital daily puzzle platform and subscription service offering a portfolio of distinct puzzle games, co-founded by award-winning game designer Zach Gage and engineer Orta Therox in partnership with Hearst Newspapers. The core offering consists of free daily games (Flipart, Pile-Up Poker, Typeshift, Crossword/Mini Crossword, Really Bad Chess, SpellTower, Bongo, Memoku/Weather Memoku, Circuits, and Ribbit) supplemented by a premium Puzzmo Plus subscription tier ($19.99/year) that unlocks ad-free play, archive access, leaderboard eligibility, and exclusive games such as Cube Clear and Pile-Up Poker Pro. The platform also hosts an experimental game (Hue Complete Me), a community puzzle creation platform (Workshop), embeddable puzzle widgets, and merchandise including the Circuits Notebook. The games portfolio spans word search (SpellTower), spatial reasoning (Flipart, Typeshift), card/poker strategy (Pile-Up Poker, Pile-Up Poker Pro), chess variants (Really Bad Chess), crossword (Crossword, Mini Crossword), memory-Sudoku hybrids (Memoku, Weather Memoku), word association (Circuits), and Scrabble-style tile games (Bongo by Seth Godin), unified by daily fresh content and leaderboard competition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SpellTower A daily word-search puzzle where players find words in a 2D letter grid by changing direction, crossing their own path, going diagonal, or spelling backwards. Letters disappear after use, with the goal of clearing the entire board. Targeted at word-game enthusiasts.
• Really Bad Chess A daily chess variant with randomly assigned pieces per side (e.g., three queens vs. no queens and five rooks), where players must solve the checkmate puzzle regardless of material advantage. Targeted at chess players and casual puzzle fans.
• Flipart A daily digital jigsaw puzzle where players rearrange Tetris-like shapes by tapping pivot points so pieces fit within a border without overlapping. Includes regular remixes such as MonoArt and ClearArt that change the visual challenge. Targeted at casual puzzle players.
• Typeshift A free daily word puzzle where players shift columns of letters like a combination lock to form words, combining word search, spatial reasoning, and strategy. Includes remix variants such as Adverbshift and Trioshift. Targeted at word-game enthusiasts.
• Crossword (midi-sized)

Quantifiable outcome

• All crosswords feature optional easier hints for every clue
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Seth GodinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew York Times bestselling author and marketing guru created the Bongo game. He developed core game ideas including daily board updates, tile values, bonus line, and partnered with Puzzmo to bring Bongo to life.
• Jacob LandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMiddle school math and English teacher from New Jersey who designed the Circuits puzzle. Idea was born from his love of seeing 'aha!' moments in students. Started solving crosswords with his father which sparked his word game fascination.
• Lisa HanawaltminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-creator and illustrator of BoJack Horseman collaborated with Puzzmo to design a set of actual playing cards offered as a free gift with new subscriptions.
• Angie WangminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIllustrator credited for all Puzzmo illustrations including character animations. Her artwork appears throughout the Puzzmo platform and press materials.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sporcle: Online trivia and puzzle platform with daily games and user-generated quizzes. Comparable to Puzzmo in daily-puzzle cadence, community engagement features, and user-generated content creation through quizzes and puzzles.
• The Washington Post Games: Newspaper-backed daily puzzle platform with crosswords, word games, and a subscription offering. Directly comparable to Puzzmo in the newspaper-games-page category, targeting similar news readers and puzzle enthusiasts via a similar subscription model.
• Chess.com: The leading online chess platform with daily puzzles, variants, and competitive play on subscription. Directly comparable to Puzzmo's Really Bad Chess offering, sharing the daily-puzzle, leaderboard, and subscription mechanics.
• The New York Times Games: The dominant daily puzzle platform — Wordle, Connections, Crossword, Spelling Bee, Strands — competing directly with Puzzmo for the same daily crossword/word-game enthusiast segment and subscription conversion. Closest comparable in business model and product surface.
• Lichess: Free, open-source online chess platform offering daily puzzles and variants. Direct comparator to Puzzmo's Really Bad Chess in the daily chess puzzle space, distinguished primarily by Lichess's open-source/free model versus Puzzmo's subscription.
• Los Angeles Times Crossword: Newspaper-backed daily crossword platform with subscription model. Direct competitor to Puzzmo in daily newspaper puzzles, targeting the same crossword-enthusiast audience with similar content cadence and pricing.
• The New Yorker Puzzles & Games: Premium crossword puzzles and word games distributed via The New Yorker's digital subscription. Closely mirrors Puzzmo's positioning around sophisticated cultural references, distinctive constructor voice, and crossword-led product — Brooke Husic has published for The New Yorker.
• Mental Floss Games: Media publisher running daily word games and puzzles targeted at trivia and word-puzzle enthusiasts. Comparable to Puzzmo in publishing daily word games and puzzles to similar consumer segments, though as a media-property vertical rather than a standalone platform.
• USA Today Puzzles: National newspaper publishing daily crosswords and word puzzles through its digital platform with a subscription tier. Direct competitor to Puzzmo in the daily newspaper-puzzle space targeting the same crossword-enthusiast audience.

Broad incumbents

• Apple Arcade: Apple's subscription mobile-gaming platform featuring hundreds of puzzle and casual games. Overlaps with Puzzmo as a subscription mobile gaming destination, and serves as the host platform for Puzzmo's own iOS app distribution.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/puzzmotoday
• Facebookfacebook.com/puzzmo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/puzzmo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Puzzmo