Ruzzle gets Adventurous with a planned TV series

    MAG Interactive, the Swedish creators of the hit wordplay game Ruzzle, have a lot going on these days after raising a $6 million funding round last November. They have now launched Ruzzle Adventure on iOS and Android in hopes of taking what worked with Ruzzle in more of a single player setting, where rather than just throwing static boggle-like word puzzles at you for you to compete against your friends, the game takes on the “Adventure” storyline where you progress through stages, with each stage segment unlocking something new to throw into the word puzzle. In the gameplay, swiping words takes their letters out of the puzzle, with new letters for the game board dropping down from the top.

    To add more challenges, some stages require you to hit certain letters a few times to break them, or throw in power-ups like bombs that can help you when you’re reaching the end of the puzzle without any good words.

    Challenging your friends is what made the original Ruzzle fun, and that element is still in there to an extent. After you finish you’re given a point score, which you can compare with your Facebook connected friends, or with the unobtainable global leaderboards.

    Since launching May 22nd the game hovered in the top 10 most downloaded US apps for about a week, before dropping down to #320 overall, although it’s still staying in the top 10 in the “word” category.

    A Ruzzle TV series?

    What’s more unexpected though is that MAG interactive is partnering with a U.S. based production company to adapt Ruzzle into series for the U.S. television marketplace. “High Noon will develop and expand the gaming series into a format designed specifically for both broadcast and cable networks as well as the syndication market,” the press release reads.

    I almost laughed at that idea at first, but who doesn’t love a good gameshow, and it makes sense that today’s apps get hyped on television.

    “Ruzzle has all the perfect elements of a game format – the rules are simple, anyone can play and there’s a ticking clock,” said Jim Berger, Chief Executive Officer of High Noon Entertainment, who is producing the show. “Combine that with high stakes, and we know the excitement and intensity of the game will translate seamlessly to TV.”