Design Talk - NYT Games with Rohit Crasta

About this episode

The episode features a discussion with Rohit Crasta about the design philosophy behind the New York Times' social word game, Crossplay.

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.

People in this episode

Hosts: Dirk Knemeyer, David Heron

Guest: Rohit Crasta

Topics covered

• game design
• social games
• mobile gaming
• user engagement
• microtransactions
• daily rituals

Keywords

• game design
• New York Times
• Crossplay
• Wordscapes
• microtransactions
• social sharing
• player engagement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times

Products: Wordscapes, Crossplay, Wordle

More episodes of The Game Design Round Table

• Design Talk - Exploring Claude with Dirk & David · May 5, 2026 · 57 min
• Design Talk - Buried Giant with Cole Werhle · April 21, 2026 · 52 min
• Design Talk - Exploring Nevaros with Raven Zachary · April 7, 2026 · 59 min
• Civ Series 13 - Rogue Hex with Reed Erlandson · February 24, 2026 · 56 min
• Design Talk - Designing large group games with Rikki Tahta · February 10, 2026 · 50 min
• Season: RPG - Interlude: The Final Round Table · January 28, 2026 · 54 min