How NYT Games Builds Products People Can’t Quit With Jonathan Knight, Head of NYT Games
If you’ve ever played Wordle in NYT Games, you have Jonathan Knight to thank for that. He led the acquisition of Wordle for the Times, as part of his work as head of NYT Games.
Knight has spent his career in games, from EA to Zynga to Warner Bros, and now to NYT Games. Five years ago, when he joined the company, there was no clear strategy for what “NYT Games” should be. “They knew there was something there,” he recalled. “The crossword had always delivered. Spelling Bee was taking off. But there was no tech strategy, no audience strategy, no real content strategy. They wanted someone from the games industry to help them figure out where to go.”
“Time Well Spent” is the goal
Everyone is competing for eyeballs and time in app (think TikTok or Candy Crush). Jonathan says that’s not the end goal here. He doesn’t want you to stay in the app longer; he wants you to come back tomorrow. “Our north star isn’t minutes spent,” he said. “It’s days per week and whether you solved something.”
Unlike other gaming apps that thrive on push notifications and infinite loops, the Times’ portfolio is intentionally finite. “I don’t actually want people in our app all day long,” he explained. “You solve the puzzle, you feel good about it, and then you put it down.” He described it as wanting you to feel like it’s “Time well spent.”
And that’s the genius of the daily puzzle: a built-in “appointment mechanic.” Everyone gets the same Wordle or Connections each day — a shared challenge that’s both human and communal. “The puzzle is the same for everyone,” Knight said. “We’re all trying to beat the New York Times together.”
Human crafted experiences matter
At a time when so much of digital content is automated, NYT Games is based around puzzles and games made by real people. “Our puzzles are handcrafted by editors,” he said. “Connections is literally made by one person every single day and then tested. Even Wordle is programmed week-to-week to make sure the flow feels right.” Yes, the NYT could make 10 Wordles every day and there’s a subset of people who would do that, but scaling up like that isn’t the goal. “We want you to know a human made this for you today,” he said.
Fewer games with better retention
Since Wordle acquisition, NYT Games has tested 120 ideas. Only three — Connections*,* Strands*,* and Pips — made it to full release. Jonathan said that they want to avoid having dozens of games out that each become “a support story.” Every prototype runs through a rigorous greenlight process, with retention as the deciding factor.
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