GAMES Magazine

:GAMES may also refer to the Georgia Academy of Mathematics, Engineering and Science.

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GAMES Magazine is a United States-based magazine devoted to games and puzzles, and is published by GAMES Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group. It was originally published by Playboy (debuting with the September/October 1977 issue), was briefly out of business in the late '80s, and was bought and brought back to life by the mail-order company Bits & Pieces in 1990. The magazine was based in Manhattan until Kappa acquired it in 1996 and moved the Games office to Kappa's headquarters in Pennsylvania. The magazine is published ten issues a year; monthly, except January and June. Each issue contains reviews, articles, the Pencilwise section (pencil puzzles), Wild Cards (short text puzzles), and a contest. Hidden among the advertisements is usually a fake ad, which readers must spot. The cover of the magazine itself is usually a puzzle of some kind. Periodically, the magazine also has a "Hidden Contest," wherein the rules are concealed somehow in the issue. Annually, the December issue includes a compilation of new and noteworthy games in its GAMES 100 list, somewhat akin to an American version of the German Spiel des Jahres.

Related Topics:
United States - Magazine - Game - Puzzle - Kappa Publishing Group - Playboy - GAMES 100 - Spiel des Jahres

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The Pencilwise section contains: Crossword puzzles, cryptic crosswords, word searches, cryptograms, math and logic puzzles, as well as other regular and periodic puzzles.

Related Topics:
Crossword - Cryptic crossword - Word search - Cryptogram - Logic puzzle

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Readers who write in with mistakes or alternate solutions to puzzles are often rewarded with a GAMES T-shirt; the only other way to obtain a GAMES T-shirt is to be a runner-up in one of their contests.

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GAMES Publications also publishes GAMES World of Puzzles on a bimonthly basis. This magazine is similar to an extended Pencilwise section of GAMES Magazine. It also contains a contest in every issue, most often a variety crossword or trivia quiz.

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Bygone sister publications of GAMES include The Four-Star Puzzler (1981-1983), GAMES Special Edition (late 1980s), GAMES Premium Puzzles (early 1990s), and Pencilwise Extra (also early 1990s). Childrens magazines put out by GAMES were GAMES Junior (1987-1989) and Zigzag (mid-1990s).

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Will Shortz, the editor of Games Magazine from 1989-1993, is currently editor of the New York Times Crossword Puzzle.

Related Topics:
Will Shortz - New York Times

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