How NYT Games mastered the art of thoughtful play
The newspaper’s head of games, Jonathan Knight, explains why a consistent, human-crafted approach keeps millions of daily players coming back to the likes of Wordle, Crossplay and Pips
There are very few products on the internet that have become as deeply embedded in people’s daily routines as the New York Times’ games. Tens of millions of people begin their mornings with Wordle, squeeze in The Mini Crossword over coffee, tackle Connections on the commute, or wind down with Spelling Bee before bed.
What began over 80 years ago with the paper’s iconic crossword has quietly evolved into a sophisticated digital ecosystem that reaches audiences far beyond a traditional readership. Indeed, the New York Times sees Games as a core part of its subscription model, sitting alongside News, Cooking, Wirecutter and The Athletic. Last year, players completed its puzzles a staggering 11.2 billion times. Wordle alone, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year, accounted for 4.2 billion plays, while The Mini, Connections and Strands each surpassed one billion.
Since acquiring Wordle in January 2022, the paper has steadily grown its Games offering, most recently introducing Crossplay, a word game app akin to Scrabble. At the time of writing, over half of weekly users play more than one puzzle every day, and over a quarter play four or more. Yet for Jonathan Knight, head of games at the New York Times, success has never been measured simply by scale.