Mumbai: Newspapers have always been popular for the daily puzzles and games that are eagerly awaited by the readers. India’s most-read newspaper, The Times of India (TOI) has launched a print-linked-digital-game, a phygital housie game – Times Housie Plus that promises to surprise and reward its readers as they get ready for the festival celebrations. TOI has added a twist to the classic age-old family game Housie by reinterpreting it with digital gamification codes. With this game, TOI promises to keep the entire family entertained as it adds a twist to the classic way of playing the popular and age-old family game – housie, the clues will be hidden within number puzzles, general knowledge questions, city trivia, word games etc.
Times Housie Plus brings together the physical newspaper and the digital game, with a pop of innovation, using trivia to build a month-long engagement activity with readers. To play this game, readers will need to solve trivia questions that will appear in the TOI newspapers every day for 22 days starting 4th October 2020 and arrive at the numerical answers. These numbers should be entered on their unique digital Housie ticket, which will be available on the game website: www.timeshousie.com. Players can claim prizes across categories like Jaldi 5, Jaldi 10, Rows, Full Housie etc. There are also daily prizes and vouchers to be won all the reader has to do is solve the daily questions and enter the numerical answers on their tickets.
The game will be available to readers in Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Bengaluru adding extra zing to their festive celebrations. TOI readers can win a host of prizes worth over Rs. 25 Lakhs, ranging from daily ecommerce shopping vouchers to several home appliances from Bosch & Siemens. Full house prize winners get home appliance make overs to prep their homes for the festive season.
Housie is social game and often played within the social circles. Therefore, #TimesHousiePlus allows the readers to invite their friends and family through referral codes and play the game with their circle of friends. There are prizes for referring friends and family to join too. The game play will be audited by KPMG as process validators.
Speaking about the property, Mr. Sanjeev Bhargava, Director, Brand – TOI, said, “Newspapers have always been a beloved companion for tea/coffee time breaks. Our games and puzzles have always found favour with our readers. Times Housie Plus is a re-interpreted version of the classic game of Housie, that all of us have played at some point in our life with our friends and families. We are making our newspaper more interactive and informative with this game. The clues will tell the readers more about their own city and country, and the entire family can play together to hunt and solve the clues.”
Game tutorial Video: