Episode Details

Join hosts Dirk Knemeyer and David Heron as they welcome Rohit Crasta, a longtime game designer and former lead designer of Wordscapes who now serves as a lead designer for the New York Times. This episode dives into the design philosophy behind the New York Times' latest social word game, Crossplay, and how it seeks to fill a gap in the market by offering a "pure," high-quality experience free from heavy microtransactions. The discussion covers the transition from casual mobile games to the NYT's unique "daily ritual" ecosystem, the technical hurdles of native app development over using game engines like Unity, and how social sharing tools like Wordle's grid revolutionized player engagement.